Being the gaffer at a club is a lot different than for your country, especially at the youth level. Sarachin seems to struggle with that shift for awhile with Fire. This is Ellinger's rookie year in the MLS, too. And what do we do? GO with a new manager? I'm hoping the lack of defensive organization will be fixed as Ellinger figures out the MLS and finds a better mix of players for the midfield.
FWIW, Akwari was only in the game for 1 of the 5 goals - he tweaked something late in the first half and went out.
The midfield is the biggest problem with RSL..you all really need to dump Mathis. Use that Salary to bring in a good defensive midfielder and move Andy Williams to the position he should be playing and that's center mid. Andy is no winger and his play tonight proved that. Mathis's play tonight proved he no longer should be an automatic starter and he should no longer be earning an MLS max salary, it's all based on reputation. Tarley looks to be a good pickup if he can time his runs a little better to stay onsides, I think he will figure that out though with MLS expierence. The offseason will be rough, some tough decisions to make, but if I were Ellinger I would dump Pope and Mathis. THat's about half your salary cap that could be spent on younger, more consistent performers. Good luck on catching COlorado for that last playoff spot..your fans deserve it.
Yep...allowed Gregorio to get in...we know Cabrera is being molded for that position, but I would like to see Gregorio this weekend instead of Akwari...of course, I think Akwari does a better job in the middle than Dunseth, but I may be the only one...
My pocket book deserves it...I don't even want to begin thinking about how much time, effort and more importantly MONEY I have spent on RSL...tickets, merchandise, parking tickets,.....the lot of it. If they were winning, I'd have no problem doubling it all, then multiplying it to the power of 6.
It just seemed to me like you were laying blame at Akwari for last night's debacle... I must have misread. I 50/50 agree with you - yeah, Akwari seems to have better pace and is a strong player back there but Dunseth does one thing very well (even much better than Pope) - he can be physically intimiating on the backline. He will come in hard on headers and give a forearm or two to remind lone forwards that he's there... I just wish he was faster.
I hear you... but, fwiw, the team/club is bigger than the players, the season, or their record. Yep, it sucks we're losing so much. Yep, it's frustrating shelling out cash. BUT, You just need to look at it like this for the next couple of years - you are spending money on the future. If RSL keeps attendance up for 2-3 years and continues to be a model franchise... single-entity/MLS will help it put a winning team on the field. MLS is a business first and the organization has done funny things for "business" reasons that don't make sense for "competition" reasons. Landon to LAG, Adu to DCU, Chivas, etc... Sure, it's not fixed or anything, but the league has a vested interest in rewarding the markets that make money and THUS it is in our best interest long-term to help RSL make money. I say, be patient for 2-3 years, let the franchise get off the ground - but if Checketts & Co. are still putting a team on the field that can't win... they are going to have some serious survival problems. They don't necessarily have to win trophies but they should put forward some solid teams capable of making the playoffs (which will get harder in 2-3 years when they add 2 more teams to the league).
They will, they will...all teams have their down periods and you're lucky yours is coming when it is expected, not like DC United's multi-year fall from grace after winning three of the first four MLS Cups. And, for what it's worth, my pocket book shelled out $150 to buy a team autographed RSL away jersey and autographed ball, and I don't even live in SLC. As you can tell from some of the posts, me and a whole bunch of others are pulling for RSL because it has fans such as you.
Agreed. RSL will get better and the money spent will soon be worth it. Like a few others have mentioned the young guys on the team will grow and contribute. Have patience.
My biggest question from last night: which DC player was actually Matt Taylor in disguise? We seem to have gone the entire season without figuring out how to make the through runs that made DC so dangerous all night. It was fun to watch them, even as I cringed as an RSL fan.
At the stadium last night, I was very impressed with both Scarlett and Tarley. We played against Scarlett twice in March, and I really think he's upgraded his game. Very active, and--unlike one of the previous posters--I thought his touches were fine. When I watched the game on TV after I got home, I didn't notice him as much. From memory, he made some nice off-the-ball runs that weren't rewarded. Tarley was having a massive game even before the goal. Seems like the perfect complement to Kreis, and for your team's sake, may you never have to witness Chris Brown ever again trying to impersonate a forward. Was kind of stunned at how little Mathis moves off the ball these days, and given that you already have Williams (as with our own C. Gomez) who doesn't get back, that really leaves your defenders in a hole. That's the same reason we don't play Freddy and Christian Gomez in the midfield, and Mathis makes Freddy look like Claude Makalele. Is Clint really that much better on free kicks than Kreis and Williams that RSL can cede that degree of work rate? In any event, I'm guessing that Tarley will hit a few more goals this year. Hopefully, he'll get a couple against New England on Saturday.