Cormack McCarthy has a quote from/about "The Road" that applies to RSL 2018 (and much of 2017 too for that matter) fairly well: I forget when we knew we would at least be competitive on the road, and I remember oh-so-many terrible performances. Ah well, here we go to Philadelphia, where we've never lost (one win and four ties) so something is going to change - that streak or our overall run of form on the road. And if you weren't low before, my scintillating opening post in the game thread ought to have you pumped!
Good idea. My McCarthy quote for this game comes from No Country for Old Men: “Nothin wounded goes uphill, he said. It just dont happen.”
Apparently CJ Sapong is injured and Corey Burke is suspended, so the top choices at striker are out for the Union. Then again, that's how we got a guy who is scoring to play (two missing so we turned to Baird) so maybe this will help Philly.
this sounds like the game where some kid from Philly makes a name for himself that or we're going to be treated to a dull 0-0 game note: RSL has yet to play in a game that hasn't had at least one goal in it. That's.... a stat
2-0 Philadelphia notches their first win against RSL. Wish I could feel optimistic about playing a bad east team, but we are bad as well. At least we don't have to worry about playing down to them. Silver linings, I guess. Any way as per my tradition here is the referees for the game: Philadelphia Union v Real Salt Lake Talen Energy Stadium (5:30PM ET) REF: CHICO GRAJEDA AR1: COREY PARKER AR2: CORY RICHARDSON 4TH: JOSE CARLOS RIVERO VAR: JORGE GONZALEZ
+1 Cormac McCarthy Just for that, RSL is going to win big. “Your heart's desire is to be told some mystery. The mystery is that there is no mystery.” - Blood Meridian
The Road is a great one! I'll I add one more quote that seems to sum up how I've felt watching most games this year: "Nobody wants to be here and nobody wants to leave." RSL can be such agony to watch these days and I don't believe I keep going back. But I do. And I will. I'll go out on a limb and predict a surprise RSL win that will spring us into an unlikely (and arguably undeserved) 4th spot in the west after Portland and Vancouver fail to pick up points on the weekend. Not a likely scenario but I'll be sure to come back and point this out on the slimmest of chances it all comes about.
Who are we kidding. This is McCarthy. The word dark is afraid of his shit. Not only is RSL going to lose, one of our coaches is going to lose an arm, because of all the yelling. And that is why you DON'T YELL.
Reality has already sunk my unlikely predictions for the weekend. I can still hope for an RSL win though.
Yep, not fun to watch but I can't turn away. A little hope quickly dashed with another Union goal, 3-1. I can no longer use this game as my excuse to not get to my list of work to do for the day. Trying to walk away.... edit ....and walking back after the change in the call.
Lousy, lousy stuff. I know Kreilach got a goal, but on the second Philly goal he just sort of let his man run past him, then went at like 70% running along behind him as he went into the gap and then chipped the keeper.
Watched the whole game. It was better than yard work. Not by much but I hate yard work. I was hoping for 5 from Philly. Kept up the suspense until the end of the game. There is a giant disconnect on this team right now and not just the one between the back 5 and the front 5. They have no idea what they are trying to do on offense or defense. Is Petke just a better dressed Cassar? I hope not.
How can you watch the Union play and not realize that you need to mark Bedoya? It was comical how easy it was for Bedoya to get the ball in space, dribble 20-ish yards, and play a through ball. He was never pressured at any point. Kreilach could have gotten to him quicker, and let Marcelo stay back with Dockal. Or he could have stayed with Dockal into the space Marcelo vacated. He instead decided to do neither, and just sort of casually jogged back while Philly scored a goal.
After seeing this game maybe we can change our title to: "giving goals to all teams of the land". I care, I just wanted to let the rage dim a little before making a post. Am I the only one that wants to see Kyle get a yellow card suspension or something like that just so it forces Petke into making a change in the DM. So what point do I put into this game that has not been said in any of our losses? -Midfield still doesn't rotate back on defense and gets burned again. -Subbing? -I am begging to think that Acosta hit Petke's dog, and Weibels dog and then backed over for good measure (bad joke, I guess) -Apparently Luke is getting back surgery........ -Did Kyle burn his dreads in some sort of sacrifice to enable him to start every game? I guess he didn't say anything about getting speedy legs to cover to gaping hole he is continually left in. I am going to Seattle next week, maybe I will get thanks for waking their offense up. Then again NVM not going to hope for a red and more false hope GO RSL
We thought of going to the game this weekend, but RSL's form plus a very tight budget (ah, the joys of four straight years of "surgery for someone" and what that does to finances) means next year, maybe.
you were posting on bigsoccer while sitting on the bench with the team? Shit, man. NICE! oh you mean HERE
So, Krielach. I really want to like this guy. But there is a reason that a player who is a team captain, in his prime, lost his starting spot in the Bundasliga 2. We felt it was the right time to drop $1M a year and make him our #2 money maker. It is nice having a midfielder who can add goals besides Rusnak... but man he is a defensive liability. We were better with Luke last year.
on defense, yes, we were better with Luke Offensively, Kreilach is a heaven sent. The problem isn't so much Kreilach as it is playing him AND KB. On paper (3 years ago) this setup actually makes a ton of sense. With how KB's aged this year, though, it's not working. And Petke seems to not give a flying ******** because Sunny just sits there on the bench waiting. Oh, and Luke has been too involved with our training staff and is having back surgery today because of it.
I'd be more than a little discouraged if I were Sunny right now. Why do players who consistently play poorly still get to start? It's not like Sunny is amazing, but if I were him I'd find it really tough to stay focused in practice. Seems pretty clear that he's not going to play, no matter what happens during the games.
I agree. But I wonder if Krielach would look better or play better if he wasn't playing beside the slowest player in MLS at the moment. I love Kyle but why not give Sunny, can't believe I am even suggesting him, or nearly anyone else an opportunity to be more effective protecting the RSL pre-school academy back line? I don't get Dunny constantly saying that this is the deepest RSL team ever. It's also the slowest from what I can see. The shortest for sure. Maybe if they painted the field at the RioT yellow the munchkins would play a little better. Who knows. I love RSL and didn't get pissed once watching the game on Saturday. My wife on the other hand was disgusted every time she came downstairs to check the score. What a sweet heart. I was hopeful that Petke would be more than just a step up from Cassar but maybe a whole flight of stairs and yet I don't think it's turning out that way at the moment. It has only been a year since he took over the team and yet it somehow feels like he has been here for years and years. Has his intensity done the same thing as Cassars lack of? Are the players tuning him out already? Do they just not believe in what he is trying to get them to do on the field? I was cautiously optimistic at the start of the season that with a full off season and pre-season along with some seemingly smart signings that RSL would challenge for the top 4 spots in the west. Now I'm just hoping that they make the playoffs which with every road game looks more and more like a pipe dream. It's a long season but in my mind something needs to change drastically. Especially in the midfield. Maybe it's time to give some more youth a shot. The best players on the team the last few weeks have been the youngest. Baird-best player on the team right now, works his butt off every game Besler-wow, did not see that coming. He's doing his best to put ANOTHER $750,000 on the bench. Which on any other team might be a lot harder accomplishment. Lennon-Both he and Besler put in to try and save the day when the veterans couldn't figure out how to stay in front of their opponents. After those three surprises I would say that the following have played pretty well too but it doesn't really matter because this team hasn't figured out how to play well together yet, which is ridiculous regardless of injuries, etc. etc. etc.: Glad Rusnak Plata- ho hum Sophomore slump: Savarino-can't seem to find his shot or team mates at appropriate times. I have no idea what they still see in him: Bofo- for every good play he makes he makes 47 others that boggle the imagination. I would take Seba over this guy every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Bofo is the type of player you buy for what he's worth and sell for what he thinks he is worth and you would make millions. Wrong place, wrong time? Petke victim? Being played out of position? Kreilach-I like this guy but I also love Yura so what do I know? He needs to be put next to players that run faster than Kyle. Pablo Ruiz-getting killed out there. shouldn't he be in the midfield? Players that are absolutely not making the grade because that can't get on the field with this team which is pretty sad or when they do get on the field they look like they should get subbed before half time (sorry Henley): Henley-wow he looked bad Sunny-babysit some kids, you should be out there over Kyle Ortuno- who? L Silva-Run Luis, run. Seriously run. No run. That's running? ok come back to the bench. Walk fast. Phillips-He's still here? Everybody else. This team sucks at the moment and needs some sort of kick in the pants.