Two attacks in a row we've just kicked the ball to an opponent when approaching the 18. One shot this half though, so we have that going for us.
Too many minutes on Damir's legs the last week - he went 90 in New England and against LAG. Regardless, this team just isn't fun to watch.
I like Damir coming out. I don’t like Boffo going in. edit: guess I’m an idiot. He’s played well since coming in.
That was pretty, patient, and perfect. 2-1. Players cycled around into space, moved the ball nicely, and found the space.
IMO the lineup with Baird and Savarino on the wings and Damir up top almost never works effectively. I'd rather push Rusnak wide, Baird up top and Damir as the playmaker with that roster. I know RSL had some success with Damir as a false 9 last year, but we haven't seen that this season. Baird does okay with Sam Johnson up top, but IMO he and Damir don't play off each other very well. Also, for all of the Bofo haters out there, he's actually more efficient than Baird and he adds much more creativity to the attack when he's on the pitch.
It took me 30 minutes to get through security tonight. Based on attendance to start and then the end, I'm guessing I wasn't the only one. Piss poor from the club when they wanted to do some pregame celebrations Holy hell did I think we were in for a fun one when we scored in the first minute. I honestly thought we were going to give up a goal just seconds before, as Onuhoa was all out of sorts on teh top of the box. Somehow we sprung a counter and the Houston defender (number 6) literally stepped out of the way of Baird as he went to shoot. From there on, though, it was all Houston. We were garbage in every part of the game. Our longest passing sequence was 12 passes that never entered the final third. Meanwhile, Houston was able to dribble into their final third. I haven't watched video so I have no idea who was off on the first goal. It must have been early in the sequence of stupidity from RSL, as everything after the turnover was keystone cops. The actual goal from Houston was pretty. We looked very stupid, don't get me wrong, but the move the houston player put on KB(?) to get to the endline was a really brilliant change of pace. Nicky shouldnt' be getting beat near post - but he also shouldn't be having to make multiple saves inside his own 6 The lack of energy from the team was alarming as hell. A better team puts about 2 or 3 more goals on us from minutes 2-70. Any playoff team would have had us walking out the stadium at half, honestly. And whatever the ********ing halftime approach is, it has to stop. We look so bad coming out of the break over and over again. We literally kickedthe ball out of bounds on the second touch of the second half. Like... how?! KIR's point about Kreilach and Baird is spot on. I'd go a step further, even, and say the Kreilach experiment in any of the attacking 4 needs to stop. His lack of pace kills any pace of play and he has shown how inconsistent he is in the air. He's everything people complained about with Sabo and doesn't score. Lazy, slow, dives. I'd be fine if he sat out the rest of the season. Bofo added life to the game - though not in the direct way that sentence suggests. His knack for going down like there is a sniper in the building drove the Houston players nuts. If nothing else, I guess Bofo can get under the opponents skin to add some bite to the game. That isn't to take away from his added pace to the game, but he didn't come in and light the world on fire by any means. He just actually put in effort and then proceeded to fall over anytime a guy in orange touched him. The real ghost of the game was Savarino until his goal. I'd be curious to rewatch on film and focus on Sava, it felt he never had much space to work with, if any. My guess is that is the word on how to beat RSL as he is, without a doubt, our best player and most impactful. His goal was one we've seen about a dozen times this season, it feels like. Why teams give us time and space on the corner of the box is beyond me. Especially bofo and savarino. Those two are always looking to cut right and hit a curling shot. I don't know what Freddy saw in that game to only make one sub, but whatever. At the very least use one to burn time at the end... Oh, and not subbing off Nicky in the last minute of stoppage time bugged me. I think it would have been a fitting way to honor him - even though the post game stuff was well done. Well, for the most part. Someone should really set a clock on those things and when Nick starts talking about his girlfriend and such it lost the special feeling that was there. Still, major kudos to the south end for a massive tifo. And the stadium, while lacking (like the play on the field) for a majority of the game really stepped it up at the end. The Nick Rimando chants gave me chills and you could see the effect it had on Nicky. That was special and well worth the cold/poor soccer.
Watched the game and agree with pretty much everything said so far. This team needs a lot of work and yet still having a decent season. One thing I always love about Nick is he rarely cheats or guesses on shots and almost never gets beats near post. Except tonight. I imagine the moment got to him a little. As for the game, meh. This team still has little idea what to do when they get near the 18. Kudos to Baird for being dangerous for 30 seconds. It’s an improvement. Just kidding. This has been a long season and with what has gone on it feels even longer. It feels like a throw away kind of season where they hope something good happens and if it doesn’t, oh well, we’re waiting for a couple million in bad contracts to come off the books. For me the offseason sounds more eventful than making the playoffs. I know I’m more interested in what’s going to happen after the season than what’s going on now. As far as the playoffs go I would take 3rd place or 6th over 4th or 5th. I think if RSL has to play LAFC It will not be pretty. I don’t expect 3 points in Vancouver. On the road, crappy turf, equals crappy results for RSL. Should be fun.
one with a plan, at least. I looked at Freddy when the stoppage time was announced and it looked like he was shocked we were already to that point in the game. The subs went back to the bench right around then, and I just rolled my eyes at how poorly he was managing the end of the game. Savvy managers use a stoppage time sub to kill clock.
People all around me were all: “Why isn’t he using the subs to kill time?” Also, I was disappointed that Bofo was the only player embellishing knocks in order to run clock. Freddy is not ready to be a MLS manager; but, as I’ve posted before, I personally don’t get vibes from him that he wants the job. I think he’s comfortable being an assistant and is filling in as the interim as a favor to the organization.
That would ROCK if RSL won the MLS Cup and then Freddy went back to just being an assistant. "Coach Juarez, we would like to make you an offer for big $$$ to be the new head coach for <insert name of team here>. Whaddaya say?" "No, thanks. I want to just go back to being an assistant at RSL."