Well, to keep tradition alive and get myself through the rest of work today I figured I would find out which month will be the hardest for RSL. It didn't take much "looking" to figure out which month (on paper) will pose the biggest challenge for the defending MLS cup champs RSL (yeah that's weird but awesome to type). April for RSL: 4/1 @ Houston This one is always interesting. We seem to have a little bit of a hatred for each other (Olave and Ching especially) and the weirdest things always seem to come about when we play the creamsicles. Houston is a good team, but wont have Holden this year which will hurt. I see a draw... I hope for a draw... god we need to draw this game. 4/10 vs. Seattle The lone home game in this month is against that green team from up north. They are talented and should not be taken lightly. The win here last year was ugly, but it was a win. I see us struggling, but getting a win since its at home and early in the season (dont we always seem to do so well early on at home?) 3 points right there 4/17 @ LAG This, on the surface, looks impossible. However, no golden balls and no cakes makes this one VERY winnable. We need to go down to the HDC and own those little ladies and prove that the win in Seattle was no fluke. RSL to win, yes win, a road game 4/24 @ CBus I am not sure how good Columbus will be this year. They didn't lose much, but they seemed to show some real bad flaws at the end of last year. We always struggle in CBus... during the season at least, and I dont expect this one to be any worse. A loss, but not a horrible one for the Royal Army So April, on the surface, looks brutal as I will get out. But we are the champs and we will (fingers crossed) play like it. I really think after 5 games we will have 8 points, which would be huge considering 4 of those 5 were not at the RioT. The season is only weeks away... let the over analyzing begin
I would have to actually argue that August/September/October might all be tougher months for RSL than April. August will have 3 road matches and one home match as well as two CCL matches, probably one each at home and on the road. The road opponents are relatively easier than in April (KC, Philly, and Toronto) but by the time that Toronto match rolls around, the team will start to show signs of fatigue. September will see 3 home matches and one road match with 3 CCL matches (at least one and possibly two on the road). Two of the home matches are against Chicago and Colorado when RSL's fatigue will be pushing the limit. The road match is against Seattle. Unless the team is able to show some depth, especially with the rookies and newcomers, they might struggle to even pull 5 points out of those 4 matches. October again has 3 road matches and a home match with one final CCL match thrown in the mix. They might be too worn out by this point to be able to challenge New England and Colorado on the road and Dallas did have a halftime lead at Rio Tinto last season. Of course, if RSL has already conceded defeat in the CCL by this point, they could give their regulars a bit more rest to try and pull out a few more points in the final stretch. So the season starts brutal and ends just as brutal, if not more so. They will really need to pick up as many points as possible between May and July (and hope that Robbie doesn't spend a few months in South Africa)
Hopefully they figure out not to sacrifice home game wins for away game wins. They will need a huge balance, and a lot of our bench will have to step up to help take care of this. The team is capable of the road win, it just depends on how much they want it. Is the road woes and flip floppy RSL dead and gone?
^^^^absolutely agree. while april is going to be brutal, there is one thing i have learned the last couple years, results in april tend to mean jack and shit to how the team will end. in the last two years we have done what is necessary to get into the playoffs (and gotten lucky with other results as well). while doing well in april would help relieve some pressure at the end of the year, getting bad results in april isnt a death sentence either. now, one thing we have learned about RSL is that they tend to finish strong. this year thats going to be incedibely difficult with the last two months we will have this year. we absolutely must secure a playoff spot earlier this year, if we have to have another strong run of form over the last 4-6 weeks like last year then we stand a good chance of not making the playoffs. this is especially true this year with an additional expansion team.
I feel that August will be, with all things considered, the hardest month. But when the season scheudules came out, we all went "ah shit" when we saw the start/april. isnt it nice to be discussing the coming season though... ah this off season bullshit (though still technically we are in it) can GTFA
for the love of god it better not. I dont care if Horst improved a hundred times this off season, he still wouldnt be half the player Olave is.
I will cry when that happens. Isnt that why he didnt play the NYRB's last season? His knees dont do so well on carpet. How many teams play on that shite still? Isnt it just the Slimers?
did Tornoto change their pitch yet? When we go to Philly, they will be in their new stadium right? Other than that, all good save SSFC.
Toronto had plans to change to grass this season. Haven't seen anything on whether or not it has happened yet, but Rio Tinto's sod required around 60 days to take root before they could start playing on it, IIRC. Checkett's went ape crazy when he found out Sandy City Police had been doing dog training on the field at night while doing security sweeps, and the field was still under 30 days old. I'd expect TFC installed the sod in November, and if not, they'd better do it soon.
toronto has already done the conversion to grass. olave will still have to sit out the NYRB games until the move into their new stadium occurs (later this year?). philly wont be in their new stadium until mid season (?), i dont know what their interim stadium has as far as grass/turf. SSFC and New England will be the only teams to be permanently on field turf after NYRB moves into their new stadium. next season portland will be on field turf , i am not sure about vancouver and the remodeling of BC place.
So Olave will sit @ Seattle and @ NE... not too bad IMO edit: except both of those games fall near the end of the season... shit. Olave to get a red in each game prior, just you see: vs NY and vs cRapids (both home games) Olave will get sent off so he has an excuse not to make the trips on turf, ha ha
I don't think we'll have to worry about NYRB. They'll be in their new soccer shrine real soon, like 15 days soon.
that picture doesnt make it look so great. it looks like my dryer vent hose with birds circling ready to take aim on it. i have seen some pictures and videos of the inside, and yeah it does look damn nice though.
Both PPL Park (new stadium) and the Linc (NFL stadium) have or will have grass for the 2010 season. So Olave is safe. Also, the Whitecaps semi-permanent new stadium, BC Place will be turf. I bet their future/dream waterfront stadium will have grass. But don't hold your breath for that one. Ditto for PGE Park/Portland. Another version of the stadium is this:
When i see that logo, I see a pig's nose, with a handle-bar 'stache creeping out at each end. It's like the moustached snout of Cthulu.