Here we go again - our fifteenth opening day. Which is pretty cool in and of itself. On the road at Houston, which will be playing its third competitive game (home-and-away against the 2018 Guatemalan champions, Gustatoya). Early season "congestion" is usually a positive - it sure was for us the last time we were in CCL a couple of years ago - as folks don't need to be rested.
Shouldn't this be our 14th? My twins have their 14th birthday today, and they were born right before season one began.
That was season one; we "turned" one when the twins did, too, so they and RSL are both 14, in their fifteenth years.
I'm expecting us to get worked. The only hope we have is that Houston will be distracted with their recent CCL success and not focused on this game. It's very doubtful that happens. The lineup I expect we'll see: Kreilach Plata Rusnak Sava KB Luiz Herrera Silva Glad Lennon Nicky Bench: Putna, Beltran, Onuhoa, Mulholland, Besler, Bofo, Johnson Prediction: Hou: 3 - RSL 1
True believers everywhere know we will come away with a crushing 5-1 win. At least that's what the voices in my head say......
After watching the last match if RSL doesn't give up 3 to 4 goals then Houston isn't who we thought they are. 4-0 Houston
You might want to have that looked at. I'm going with a 3-0 defeat for the team, and 50 BS posts bemoaning how we're now out of playoff reach, with one post calling for Petke to get fired, 3-5 references to how we're screwed due to mismanagement of funds with Dad Bod.
I am going to go with a 2-2 draw, but I am a optimist in the beginning of the season. eh, nvm 4-1 loss.
Houston didn't look good tonight, but won against Gustatoya 2-1 to advance in the CCL. This means they play next week again, against Tigres, which may lead to some resting of players against us (even early in the year, three games in seven days is a lot).
2-1 RSL. Houston will blow a couple chances and will walk away feeling like they should have had a better result.
The impeding match against Tigres is our biggest hope. Not only from a player time management perspective, but from a focus perspective. The first game of your 34 game regular season isn't nearly as vital as the first leg of a quarterfinal - especially with the quality and location of the opponent. I still don't think we're disciplined enough in defensive transition to win, but maybe we can find a way to eek out a high scoring draw?
I can help that 50 posts number by making my 15 points across 15 posts. I got us guys, don't feel pressured.
I feel like RSL could lose by just about any score and it would still flatter them. And, yes, Dunny will be all over the lousy Hawaii pitch, the missed flight, and "they need time to figure each other out" excuses. It won't be the end of the world but it's probably about par for RSL this year. Maybe I should save this somewhere so I can keep posting it in each game thread going forward.
The season hasn't even officially started yet and we're already bitter. BS and EMBRATSU at its finest! For the record, I'm right there with everyone else. Re-hiring Waibel signalled to me that we're still mired in MLS 2.0 and getting left behind.
What I think we will see: Kreilach Baird Rusnak Sava KB Luiz Herrera Silva Glad Lennon Nicky Bench: Putna, Beltran, Onuhoa, Mulholland, Plata, Bofo, Johnson What I would like to see: Baird Plata Kreilach Rusnak Sava Luiz Herrera Silva Glad Lennon Nicky Bench: Putna, Beltran, Onuhoa, Mulholland, KB, Bofo, Johnson I want Luiz to be the player that can cover enough ground to play Dmid by himself. I have no evidence that he can. I want Johnson to be the player that can play the 9 for us and score 15+ goals. I have no evidence that he can. Also based on his preseason playing time I'm guessing he is taking awhile to adjust which is why I have him on the bench. I hope that he eventually works his way into the starting lineup. We are going to lose. My only expectation is that we don't get run off the pitch.