Thoughts? Pros: Created some chances out of nothing. Very unlucky on a few. Cons: Possession in the midfield and possession overall. King was out of sorts Santos was a waste of a player and should have been subbed. Very disappointed. Slow, indifferent, complainer. Maybe he should be played as a midfielder. Valderrama role. I dunno, but he can't play like that again. Čontofalský - great game. Hertzog usually leaves it all on the field but was lost for most of the match Rongen team was very lethargic and out of focus. I understand we have injuries but the line up needs to be tweaked. Overall very disappointed. Came out timid and let Cosmos play their game. It also seemed they had trouble with the artificial turf. Everyone seemed off with very little control. Cosmos are very beatable with an iffy defense. We have a strong team that is much better than what we saw tonight. I predict we kill them at home. Right now they have to regroup and start thinking how they can impose their game and dominate next week right from the start. I complain because I really care...
I thought the Rowdies played like crap. Sloppy the whole game. Vilamma (sp?) was out of position the whole game. He should have been carded several times fir manhandling Raul. Tamika had some lapses. We also missed Portillos and Savage out there. I missed them out there. I also could not believe the Rowdies were afraid/gave way too much respect to Raul. I mean, the man is 37. He still has some class, but geez the rowdies interior were too timid. The bright spots were: Contafolsky. He's really solid, and isn't shaky like Pickens has shown. Hristov. I like him playing in the top of the diamond. He always gets things going. Hertzog. Man, this guy has a motor. Love it. Our overall D has/had played great up to this game. I still like our defense. I thought Rongen would have better subs than he did in the game. It seemed he just whiffed this game. Just a bummer to lose a game we could have won; if we scored on our chances.(because we did have chances in this game). [And] more of a bummer is that we are a better overall team the Cosmos. We should have played up to them than play down to them.
Cosmos used home pitch advantage with a packed house for sure. Early in the season the Rowdies fell into that trap. lesson learned. The loss comes in what essentially has become a spring round robin tournament for a playoff spot for the NASL. Very odd and most hate it but it is kind of unique. The fail safe is in place though now with the second half more of a traditional schedule and addition of 2 more playoff teams with best overall records advancing to the championship round. When it is Hott and Humid in the summer in St Pete will be Rowdies home field advantage. With the facilty upgrades ad much better pitch a better fan experience will help. Teams can no longer make excuses about field and locker room conditions. Cant control mother nature though
Can't comment on the game unfortunately as I didn't see it. Was it online somewhere? Are there highlights?
I thought Tam and Keith Savagr played particularly well. They both attacked aggressively on several plays. Given our inability to finish that was encouraging. This season in my eyes has been about possessing the ball very well, then having a weak, ineffectual play that turns the ball over - followed by the other team countering dangerously.
I would have to agree with that. Possession is very impressive, the last pass just doesn't seem to be their. Someone mentioned in another post that we seem to try and dribble into the net - that's true. Hell of a lot of fun to watch them move the ball around, though!
Ok, I get it - nobody wants to talk about the massive meltdown that was last Saturday's game. The Rowdies finally get some offense clicking, and then they fall out of their ball-possession style AND give up stupid penalties. This team just can't put together a complete game.
I've been out of town and away from internet for the past week or so. I guess I haven't missed much Rowdies wise!