Second half still saw the outside backs pushing up wide. When we were really chasing the match for points late we were playing essentially a 2-3-5. It was ugly. Long stretches of the first half were a 4-2-4 and a better team would have absolutely thrashed us for it
Doyle added a little clarification to his "Glad is the statistical key to RSL's defense" on his notes from the weekend: "His best asset – he is able to just single-handedly end counterattacks – and his biggest improvement – he's strong enough now to more than hold his own against most center forwards, especially on restarts – were both on display in this one." I cannot disagree. We all just hope this is the player; not the one who gets thrown all over the field and passes everything out of bounds.
I thought the red on Kei was deserved. Cleats up on the legs while Lennon is heading the ball. He didn't get much of Lennon, but thats because of Lennon's movement, not Kei pulling out. If that were Sam Johnson getting a red maybe I'd feel a little hard done with a red, but mostly be upset at Sam. That was a reckless challenge.
the angle that I had in 14 of this made it look awful. Kamara's studs looked to have gone right through lennon. If the AR was consulted (as it appears he was over the headset) he certainly would have said red. VAR doesn't have much to overturn there so it was the right decision, in my opinion. Players know that if you put your studs above even a shin level you're running the risk of doing something really dumb, if unintended. That's exactly what happened to Kamara. The irony of that red card is that I thought for sure it solidified us only getting a point. Somehow the cRapids went into... well cRapid mode based on that play and completely fell apart.
I felt a lot less negative about this game than @15 to 32 . First half was terrible from RSL, and if not for Nicky we would have been punished. But RSL totally dominated the second half. Rusnak had multiple chances that he normally puts on frame. Savarino was 4 inches from connecting on the cross from Damir. The cRapids had essentially no chances. I didn't see any major tactical changes in the second half, other than the RSL midfielders weren't stepping on each other clogging up the middle of the field. Overall, I was not impressed with how the team came out to start the game, but whatever was said/done at halftime certainly worked.
I thought that the game reflected the fact that Colorado was much better than their record suggests and instead of rolling over for RSL, they came to play. However, I feel that certain players on RSL (cough, cough, Lennon) really had a shitty game and that we were lucky that Colorado didn't punish RSL for this. Everyone says that the good teams always find a way to win, and sometimes the lucky teams find a way to win also. Even after the red card, I thought that Colorado would still keep a clean sheet and go home with a draw, but they just seemed to fall apart and gave up one goal that was called back, a converted penalty and then another insurance goal, all in stoppage time. Although I was happy RSL won, I kind of felt back for Colorado.
The Rapids were throwing people at Lennon all night long. He struggled, no doubt, but Colorado was creating that too, and it would have been nice to give him more air cover than he had.
This game was awful. Freddy has a lot to learn before being head coach. Does DLH have the patience to give him enough rope? Personally, I hope not. Take all that money we are wasting and spend big on a great coach. He'll get results and recruit better players, even with Waibel negotiating. No Frank de Boers either. I want a seasoned guy with some success at a similar-or-better level, and a clear vision. (No TH14s or Lampards too.)
Except for the fact that we scored again after that. What if scenarios are tough. If Rusnak puts a shot on frame then we don’t need the PK. If Kreilach hits his cross four inches different Sava scores. If Nicky is slightly to the left then Colorado scores. What if what if what if. To my eye, RSL were far and away the better team in the second half, and the PK was the right call and RSL deserved a goal.
the second goal was very much the cRapids not giving a shit anymore. Look at the "defending" on the goal. Look, at the end of the day, we got 3 points. That's great. Nothing about the actual soccer inspired me
... do you have like an alert for any time someone posts about de Boer? How the hell did you end up in an RSL v cRapids gameday thread? To the point of that post: de Boer's managing career after Ajax has been bad. And that's putting it nicely. He seems to have found things out a bit better at Atlanta now, but for awhile there he was very much on the hot seat and going to be sacked within a year of hiring for the third straight time (Inter, Crystal Palace, then almost Atlanta) The track record for coaches without much experience (or any) in this league is bad. You get a very few Tata Martino's in there. Mostly, the unique nature of this league (size, salary cap, growing nature, playoff format, etc.) makes it extremely difficult for a coach to walk in and be successful right off the bat. RSL isn't in a metro like Atlanta (let alone LA/NY) that can make a pull for a "name" manager. So going for one would require likely having to wayyyy overpay