Suddenly I don't feel so bad... the CRapids lost 4-1 to the Thunder tonight!! We let the Thunder back into that game in the final 2 minutes when we were up 4-3 and they made us pay (giving up 2 goals in 2nd OT)... but we looked like we lost that game more than we got beat (if that makes any sense). Colorado didn't manage much of anything and trailed the entire game... Yikes! First, the "goalless streak" now the USOC humiliation... they're single-handedly trying to make us feel better for our season so far! I'd like to personally thank the CRapids... so... Thank You!
Putting 4 past Cannon is far more impressive than 6 past Nolly. (were all 6 past Nolly? I don't remember) Also, at least RSL scored 4 on 'em too. Either way, RSL has gotten far more bad publicity than it deserves. Heck, what if the Thunder win the whole shebang?
I was there. It wasn't rocket science. The thunder kept trying to poke one through down the middle and the Rapids didn't seem to be able to cope with Tarley's pace + strength. Hmmmmm...... I wonder which international RSL is in talks with. Tarley's Liberian.
Nolly is a very good keeper - not too many of those goals were HIS fault. He played a game or two when Countess was injured and did many things very well... the loss to the Thunder wasn't because he's bad. Cannon isn't super human either... if you get enough shots at ANY keeper in the world, anyone good enough to play College (and probably Highschool) up will score goals. It's the marginal shots that good keepers steal from you... RSL had them 4-3 with 2 minutes to go - defense blunder gave up a goal, then Thunder score twice in late OT. The Thunder vs. Colorado match was pretty lopsided. Turf and very narrow field must make things very difficult for opponents - although the turf was probably not an issue for RSL...
The Thunder fans were nice enough to point out to the Rapids that "at least Real Salt Lake took us to overtime." I also liked the "Real scored 4, you scored 1" chant towards the end.
Lets sign Tarley up! I heard Ellinger is still looking for an Int'l striker! Has Tarley been productive the rest of the year?
What Tarley lacks is a good touch on the ball. WHat he'd bring is something RSL doesn't have. That is both incredible pace + quickness both in terms of his first steps and a foot race. He's also a big, strong guy. I could see him feeding off of through balls from Cleutus and Williams. He could help create some pace + keep the defense on their heals to give Kries some more space to do even more damage. Oh, and he's used to playing on turf.
Eh, Tarley has been in the range of mediocre to decent all year... until the last week. In the Thunder's last league match, against Virginia Beach, he had a first half hat trick, bringing his USL-1 goal total for the season to six. After Wednesday's insanity, he now has six goals in three Open Cup matches. If the RSL team that played the Thunder in July and the Colorado team that played on Wednesday played each other, RSL would come out well ahead. RSL played noticably better than the Rapids; the relative scorelines are no lie in this case.
True or not, thanks... Who's next for the Thunder? (I really do think the field is a tremendous advantage... we've seen what RSL's turf does to other teams and then the fact that Minnesota's is very narrow is just another challenge for the visiting team). I guess USL-1 teams play Minnesota regularly so they have an idea what to expect, whereas many MLS teams get a nice surprise...
Neither RSL nor the C-Raps practiced on our field. Both walked it the day of or day before the game, but didn't practice on it. The only MLS team to beat us on that field is San Jose, who *did* practice there, so perhaps there's something to it, although San Jose required PKs to do it, and were outplayed for the vast majority of the game. Additionally, I am really loving this quote from Ellinger: Source: http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600153568,00.html