An ugly and uninspiring win but I'll take it. They could never get on the front foot but failed to make any errors that were too costly which gave them a shot in the end.
MOTM is easily Nick Rimando. Without him, we would have been behind at halftime. Just the one substitution. I guess it worked out.
Rimando MOTM for sure. Plata hasn't been great but I think he was the perfect sub for the situation. We needed more juice in the midfield. Kreilach wasn't coming back helpfully, Savarino sparingly and Johnson never. I think Plata being a bit more active with some movement unlocked things a bit late in the game.
I agree. I mean, how many times have we complained about RSL not taking advantage of going s man up? Tonight they took advantage. Gotta give them credit. Yes, before the red card we didn’t deserve to win. But in the end we did.
Right before too. When was the red card - 89th or 90th? Then the no goal after VAR, the penalty after VAR, and the bonus goal late. That's crazy.
As is now tradition, Tyrone Marshall comes out to discuss the victory (Freddy came out to discuss the loss).
So, a recent thing in sports is to retire a jersey, not a number. The jersey with the player’s name and number is given great honor. It’s like having a “Hall of Fame-Summa Cum Laude” as opposed to the run of the mill Hall of Fame.
I left the wife, 2-year-old, and 2-month-old to go to this one. I knew that the 2-year-old wouldn't fall asleep until I got home so I started leaving while play was stopped during the red. All the action happened as I walked around the stadium. I should have just come down at 9 or 9:30 and got into the stadium for free. What a horrid 90min, and great 2nd half stoppage!
I dunno. Maybe, but he probably would have gotten into a shouting match with either the Colorado coach or one of the officials....
I am assuming that the "Shut Up Alexi" banner in back of the goal was for Alexi Lalas, but I don't know why? Did he say something specific or was it just a general opinion that he should shut up (something I can support)?
Just weighing in here without any specific knowledge for why the sign was there. My immediate impression was that maybe he spouted forth regarding the MLS actions toward anti-Nazi/political signs and they didn’t like what he had to say. My second impression was that, like you, I liked the idea of a sign telling Alexis to shut up.
For me it was A tale of two halves. The final 10-15 minutes were bizarre. So many close calls, controversial calls, strict application of rules and strange bounces. RSL got points because they played so much in Colorado's half, and because Colorado was pretty physical/feisty/tenacious and their bodies just ended up in tricky situations. Several of those late offsides calls looked close to even or even to me. When it's like that I don't even take a stand, just go with the AR (but raise an eyebrow). Credit Rimando and the D (esp the Center backs) for doing ... enough. I'm sure the Rapids are frustrated because they were in charge in the first half.
Also, happy for Plata but I'm not sure that's corner turning. He had two horrible giveaways prior to lucking out chipping the ball into the defense and hoping for the best. He's struggled to connect with this team for a while from a passing standpoint. Maybe it's impatience and he just needs more field time to build that cohesion as he's played so little lately. I'd love to see him succeed. Watching the post-game stuff on the DVR, there are a few Plata related notes that stand out. Marshall indicated that RSL wanted to attack the Rapids' RB and that was why they subbed Plata on - and Freddy in the mic'd up segment (fun to see the game on DVR after the game) told him to be the difference - and Juarez high-fived him after Joao planted the Victory Flag "thing" which feels like manufactured tradition to me). IMO that's good leadership. You go to war with who you have and you develop them. The point: Clearly this staff is trying to build him up, so maybe his struggles were, in part his own doing, and in part, a Petke thing. Frankly we could use another fresh outside threat. Sava + {Baird, Saucedo, Plata} different options for different challenges. It'd be good.
It is not just RSL but other teams have this same sign. I saw on Twitter MLS officials and stadium security told them they had to take the sign down. They asked which rules were broken with the sign, which MLS officials could not answer and sign stayed up. Alexi defended anti racism fascism and political signs as it might provoke modern nazi to fight
This was, in a lot of ways, the hardest game Freddy has had to prep for. The LAFC game was one that, as a coach, it's easy to "get the players up for" - largely because they do it all themselves. Against a cellar dwellar that used to be a rival but has fizzled out? That's a tough task - especially right after losing to that previous mentioned team. So when RSL comes walking out on the field and doing their best Luis Gil impressions, it's a big strike against Freddy. The only player that really looked like they were ready for that game was Nicky - which thank god. Another massive strike against Freddy in this one was his tactical approach. It's one thing to not give much inspiration to the players, it's another to give them assignments that are god awful. Let me explain. I'm not sure how easy this was to see on TV, but in the stadium you could see a big shift from our typical 4-2-3-1 approach where the wing players (Sava/Baird/Plata/occasionally Rusnak) get chalk on their boots and run at players in the offensive third. Instead, Rusnak and Sava were tucking in for large stretches and the outside backs were pushing into those wide and advanced positions. This created a chaotic middle portion of the field for RSL and really killed off a lot of our own possession by simply occupying too much space. It also put players that aren't super stellar in offense in the best offensive positions. Further, Freddy obviously gave instruction to everyone except the defensive 4 to freely float through the field and interchange. There was a moment when Rusnak was in a holding mid spot, Kreilach at the wing, Beckerman at Attacking mid, Johnson in the box to box, and Everton furthest advanced. It looked... weird. I'm not sure what the film showed about Colorado for Freddy to think this would work, either. Unless they made a tactical shift themselves (I don't watch cRapids games so I have no idea) this played right into their strengths. They had disciplined players just clog up the passing lanes and spring counters to Kamara the other direction. Shifting to the players individual performances: Brooks had the worst night of anyone on the pitch - that includes the ejected Kamara. That near assist he had for the cRapids was the biggest "holy shit" moment of the night, but he did so many other things bad it's hard to really measure just how bad he was. Which really sucks, because I was a big fan of his last year. I think bringing in Toia completely killed Lennon's growth as a defender and a professional. It's hard to see where he fits on this team, at all, now. And, of course, he doesn't see minutes with the Monarchs so I don't know what is expected of him but to be extremely rusty in the few chances he gets. Freddy had shown in previous games that he was not afraid to sub out KB, but failed to do so in this one and it made absolutely no sense. In fact, I'm not sure any player really deserved to be on the pitch other than Nicky. I would have been fine with anyone being subbed given how awful the performances were. Instead he made just the one sub and it was infuriating to watch. Plata was hot garbage and his pk should have been saved. Even a year younger Howard easily keeps that one out - I have no idea how he didn't, honestly. Why the hell did we bring in Rowe if he's just going to sit on the bench in games like this? What does Schmitt have to do to get a chance at the 9 instead of Kreilach (who has been pretty bad for 2 straight games now). What the hell is going on with Bofo? Why is Mulholland part of this squad/taking up time in the 18? This game deserved to end in a 0-0 draw. We stole 2 points at home, which is a sad thing to say. We've found our way to 2nd in the West that performance made me think this team isn't capable of finishing top 4. This weekend's trip to the Timbers comes at a very pivotal point for both teams. Portland hasn't been racking up the points at home like many thought they would - in fact they haven't picked up any points at home in their last two games so are really going to be circling this one as the time to get things back on track. I'm not too optimistic given how we just played and how good Portland has been against us in the last few meetings. One of the positive's from the night was attendance. I'm not sure if tickets were given away or sold at a discount, but the place was back to pretty much capacity so it made for a better environment that way. Unfortunately, the play didn't inspire too much other than frustration from the fans.
100% on the Lennon stuff. Poor kid had a howler. This game was gift wrapped by Unkel for RSL. I have a really hard time with the Red on Kei. Yellow for sure but he was going for the ball and it looked like he never touched Lennon. I would say yes on the hand ball because it was away from his body but could go either way on it considering how close he was to Plata. One sub in this game? Watch this team make the playoffs, sign Freddy, and we are back to square one Cassar/Petke style. Bleh
Thank you for the positional breakdown. I watched on tv at a bar where I couldn't hear commentary and kept trying to understand why Sava would sometimes be wide, but none of the other midfielders and then Toia kept popping up. I will say that watching Toia cross from the left leaves you thinking he may be right-footed. For those who were there, were there any tactical changes after half, as RSL saw a lot more of the ball? I think the criticism of Plata is a little harsh. He was attacking quickly and with speed which was a definite change to how RSL played the whole game. He, of course, still didn't defend much. Coach gets a generous C for the reasons you mentioned, with the only bonus points for obviously working with the team on how to attack when you are up a player. Compared to the LAFC game, it was a huge difference in aggressiveness.