Honestly it was our turning the ball over to Atlanta on our side of the field that did us in. Dunny can talk about Atlanta's great transition game all he wants, but that wasn't our undoing. It was our inability to distribute the ball cleanly from the box.
We shot ourselves in the foot. None of there goals were created by them, except maybe the crap one right at the end. Our crappy defense and distribution from the back cost us this game. Just brutal. I just wanna say that Waibel better be on the hot seat here. Anyone who said that our defensive corps was good enough for this league has no business being in this business.
I hope you don't mind if I play off of your comment that Atlanta has better players than we do. @Ismitje or anyone, what is Atlanta's payroll compared to our's?
Petke brutally honest, calls out Nicky and Wingert. Says Atlanta better than us right now. Says "long term project"
Really slow starts for both halves. We're not going to go far if we don't start trying until 15 minutes in. I think our defensive problems go a little deeper than CB's (though actually having two would help). Way too many silly giveaways and mistakes in the middle. Attack is still being very wasteful. I feel like a lot of players are still not on the same page when it comes to making decisions. I'd also like to see more players try to finish chances themselves instead of passing passing and passing. The pessimist in me expected the result but I'm still a little disappointed in how it played out. Hoping for a stronger showing next game.
haha, I guess what I felt is that it wasn't a very gutting loss for me, just a bad misstep in our journey to not suck. It's a process to rebuild so I'm more focused on performance instead of results right now.
When Dunny said we were 30 minutes in, my wife said, "No way... it feels like an hour, this is horrible!"
Wow. Stayed the whole 90 and it was ten times harder to stay than it was sitting in the snow. RSL just absolutely sucks. Rimando and Beckerman look weeks past their sell by dates and that's being kind. They looked like they were prepared to play an expansion team but ended up being the expansion team tonight. I hate Atlanta Unido already.
We got boat raced by an expansion side who are the best team to play at Rio Tinto since we played Tigres in CCL play. Give Atlanta credit, they are fun to watch, I was loving the back and forth of this one, and credit to RSL, we actually looked pretty dangerous in pockets. Almiron is classy and so quick, he skinned both CBs and Phillips multiple times. Rimando to blame for both first two goals he's normally great at distribution, atrocious in this one. Acosta was amazingly poised and well positioned, I love that guy. Beckerman gave his all but his touch and decision are suffering as he loses steps. We need an attacker like Almiron to run at teams from the middle. I hope Andy isn't blowing smoke, we need to spend money to update this team.
Definitely NSFW - very NSFW . . . but when I see a sports-related question that says "what did you think of the performance" this is where I go (my wife says it isn't really safe for home, either, so be forewarned):
100% agree with this. And, it goes beyond the defense. Our highest-paid players are underperforming so far this season: Yura, Plata, Beckerman, and Rimando. On top of that, Sunny has been crap (far worse than Beckerman, IMO), and we have no starting quality CBs. That's the whole spine of the team except Rusnak. I don't pin all of that on Waibel, as some of it was not predictable. But I think he deserves a lot of the blame for having a huge portion of our budget tied up in players that are either well past their prime (Beckerman) or poor matches for the formation we were setting up to play (Yura and Plata). That's the GM's job. I love watching Lennon, Saucedo, and Allen play. They have a ton of promise. But it is a problem when your best players on the pitch are not your highest-paid players, because it's a sign of mis-allocated resources.
Last I remember, is that Beckerman and Rimando signed contracts for 3 years, starting 2015. That would make this their last year on those contracts. Same article says Plata signed for 5, but a contract that long usually has plenty of conditions that both parties may be able to get out of. Yura's contract ends this year as well. I get that we have large salaries tied up in a handful of players, but all MLS teams were in a similar situation. We should have been able to find more reliable players under $150k to bolster the team, especially in defense. Injuries have been disruptive, but our roster was never in good shape. If MNUFC hadn't brought in and played Demidov, they would probably have a better record than RSL right now. In fact, if they win @ home against Colorado tomorrow, they'll have the same record as us!
I can. Weibel. He's the one that signed Wingert, Schuler, and Horst. We could've spent that cash on a better outside back, and one high quality CB, and perhaps a second decent one for backup. This game was hot garbage. We were playing far too many hopeful balls to nobody, and the times we actually tried to build up through the midfield, we'd wind up either passing to nobody, or would send a through ball with far too much pace that either went out of bounds, or the keeper calmly picked up. The few times we did connect with a player, there was no support. If we're going to send it down the wings, then Yura should be already making a run in the box, with someone else behind for support. Just look at Atlanta. They often had 2-3 players in support when they sent a long ball down the wings. It must be nice when you've got options that don't amount to trying to dribble 2-3 defenders and hope someone finally joins the attack. Plata is turning into Beltran. So many times we tried to go up the left, only to have him get the ball and pass is straight back to the defense. We're never going to score if we keep going backwards. He also shouldn't be taking free kicks. Rusnak's have looked far better so far. For a team that was down by 2, we had no sense of urgency. You would've thought we were the ones winning by how casual we looked out there. And once again, nobody is trying to move into space. I laughed during one throw in, because I think it was only Plata trying to find space, and was marked, and everyone else just stood there watching. I was honestly surprised the ref didn't blow the whistle, because I swear it was a good 20+ seconds before we finally threw it in. As much as I love the guy, KB is done. For a player that used to play with heart and desire, he currently looks like he's playing pissed off. He's had so many cynical challenges already this season. I don't know if he's just upset that he's slower now and can't keep up, or if there's something else going on. Either way, he's not playing like the person we've known for years. I think Rimando may also be done as well. For someone that we used to count on for solid distribution, it's been terrible this season. The first goal I can accept it as a bad clearance, but the second one was just a straight up bad decision. Why pass it to Wingert who was already marked? I'd much rather he sends it downfield to nobody, because it at least allows us to setup the defense.
I don't have much to say after that game, I was not expecting more than what happened. I have a couple of thoughts. VanO: That is some Cop Stache Lennon: Saw him open on my end a couple of times. the corner he earned was skillful I think Rimandos injury, Hope it is not to bad Watch party next week? Going to need the strong stuff (for the play not the company) Inconstancy sometimes the long ball reveled itself sometimes the play was through the midfield, I don't know I do not give good observations. Did we use 3 subs, I can only think of 2 but then again would it not be making a sub for subs sake considering the roster?
Plata has really fallen off form. He lost the ball so many times which ends any attack quickly. Petke should start Saucedo instead. Defense again quite pathetic. Maybe Rimando should sit out the next match and let Van Oeckel get a start.
After the first ten minutes I was thinking that RSL's play was soooo much slower than Atlanta's. Their passing was so much quicker and crisper, that RSL was having a hard time keeping up. By comparison, RSL was holding the ball too long and getting tackled and dispossessed repeatedly. The fact that about a third of the time they'd pass it straight to the other team didn't help - Beckerman was the biggest offender on that. Rimando has indeed underperformed of late. This is the second or third gema this season where he's had lousy clearances and bad choices in sending it forward. I'm not sure VanO really did much better, since it seemed he was slow in going to clear the ball on the final goal - not sure if he thought it was offisides or just not paying attention. Atlanta's defense was overall soooo much better than RSL it was pathetic. They clearly invested heavily and well in their back line. How they've managed to field the team they have without busting the cap is crazy or using HQ math. Just think - Atlanta was without the best player in the league for the first three weeks. Hate to think of what the score would've been if Martinez had been in the game. I was shocked that Wingert wasn't pulled straight away when he wnet down. It seemed like he was unconscious or heavily dazed when he was laying there. I guess when your choice of subs is Schmidt or someone else (and you're down), you go with someone else.
I thought Gunslinger Pornstache was convinced that a yellow card was going to be given to Schuler and he didn't need to worry about the ball until too late. After the CR stopped a play to give a yellow, on which he should have allowed advantage to RSL, why not the same here?