Fair opinion since they've only been able to beat other average teams. Wins are fun regardless though. Also the production value of the broadcast is ass.
Love the blue. The subtle green tones felt very Italian. The palette was a bit crowded w/ the KC and NY kits..but I still like it. Agree with Ismitje - Baird was tremendously disruptive, creating for everyone. RSL looked more comfortable on that turf than the home squad. Go figure. Positive to see some first choice attacking players come back - but this is ultimately still an expansion side figuring shit out. I wouldn't read too much into it...and with all the corners RSL conceded (apparently in part by design - given what we heard from players) - we dodged a few bullets.
Regarding the corners, Dunny said before and during the game that the main strategy would be to avoid giving FCC set pieces since 80% of their goals come oof of them. If the players said something different then they or he was way off base.
Pretty sure players were talking about practicing defending set pieces because FCC is dangerous with them. I don’t think anyone said the plan was to concede them at will.
I was utterly shocked that we made an expansion team actually look like an expansion team. We've had a recent history of making expansion teams look like MLS Cup contenders. 2018 - LA FC 5 RSL 1 2017 - Minnesota 4 RSL 2; Atlanta 3 RSL 1
And just like that, because of this win and SKC losing at San Jose, RSL is now above the playoff line in 7th place. Yay!!!
Bullet point time: How FCC got through the first half without scoring on at least one of their corners is beyond me but that's been an issue for them all season. RSL played for the counter attack, which I hate as a fan but it can also get results. I don't think RSL was miles better than FCC but they took advantage of the home team's mistakes. It was good to see Albert involved. He's seemed out of it for the past couple of weeks. Glad RSL got a win on the road in the East but sad it had to come at FCC's expense.
My bullet points I think we got bailed out in the midfield by Baird's willingness to put in the work. We play that same game with Plata or Bofo on the left and I think we get exposed. Even though we won 3-0 I still don't think Kyle and Damir work in the midfield. I would like to see that lineup with Damir and Everton though. I think that Everton could sit deep and allow Damir to roam a little more. Rusnak is better in the middle of the field, and not on the wing.
This the timing of that loss and just how humiliating it was really hurt my view of the team. Remember we had just come off a good performance at LAFC in which we deserved a point. That was after getting ran off the pitch in DC so expectations on the team were, rightfully, on the fence, if you will. What is concerning about this whole thing is that the team doesn't look any sort of consistent so far this year. Petke went from a guy who can't get a team ready for the road but dominates at home, to getting humiliated/outplayed at home and being sporadically decent on the road. It's all a big mess of wondering who the heck this team actually is. Sure, we've played against teams that are ranked high this season and lost, but this early in the season that kind of becomes self-fulfilling, right? If you've played a team that's played something like 3 games and you lose to them, they're going to be ranked at the top. That's how it works in that short of time. Really, this feels very 2009 RSL like. That might sound like I'm pining for a repeat of MLS Cup, but that's not my focus. My point is that 2009 RSL was wildly inconsistent. We put together a run at the end and then built a team that became something. But it easily could have gone another way. Imagine if we don't get that win at the cRapids on the last day and miss the playoffs? The trajectory of this club might go down to be more like the Union instead of the glory years that followed.
The irony of this list is that, by far, Atlanta was the most poised team to do something of significance. LAFC was good, don't get me wrong, but ATL was special. I remember watching that game and never feeling like we had a chance. Heck, I remember being afraid of our own goal kicks because of the high pressure design that ATL used. Tata did some really special things with that team that, even with all the puff pieces put out, don't really do justice to just how amazing of a job he did right off the bat.