soooo many giveaways, from everyone, beckerman, mansally, grabavoy, stephenson, velasquez, sabo....all those guys have had at least one poor giveaway that i've seen.
RSL first team vs. mostly non-starters for RBNY. RSL not dominant enough compared to how RBNY ruled our backups in first half
true would have really liked to see us go head to head with first team players. oh well - maybe next saturday
Well the second half sucked! Findley is our new solid fourth option up top should we actually ever get a promised number 2.
I think he's #3 with Sandoval behind him. Based on tonight it'd be Sabo and Plata starting. Possession definitely picked up in the second half, but there were way too many give-aways. Not as big a quality pick-up in the last 30 minutes as there should have been. The Viana + Plata combo looked really good at times.
Post-game thoughts: -I hope we sign Saunders as a back-up. If Rimando is ever out or gone for anything, I'd feel very comfortable with him filling in. -Viana looked good on the ball and did pretty well tracking back on defense. I like his game. -As much fun as it is to hate on Findley, he was dangerous and fast. Teams are going to have to respect that and will open up the field for other players. -Plata was a good pickup. If and when our other striker comes in, I feel like there is going to be a lot of competition for starting spots. -Grossman and Sandavol had pretty poor showings. I wasn't impressed with either of them.
Hopefully we won't have the 'Steele effect' with Grossman's goal getting him super-extra bonus points on his report card.
I thought Khari looked pretty good. A few bad passes like everyone else but he is quite the presence in the mid-field. I only saw from about the 57th minute on but he had some good touches, nice passes and seemed to be in the play quite a bit. I would like to see how he fit in with Javi. Having a big guy to maybe do some "enforcing" might help keep players from getting so chippy with Javi. Regardless of outcome it was soooo nice to see RSL in action again.
My computer took a massive dump so I missed the last 45 min. How many bad touches did Findley have and how many shots missed?
I think it was 2-3 bad touches + 1 crap shot w/goalie leaving far post open. But as MOS5 said, Findley did keep the defense off-balance a bit. He just failed to convert, unlike Plata who got one in the net and forced a loose ball for Grossman's follow-up.
i agree that it was nice seeing findley's speed out there on the field, there were 3 or so opportunities for him to run onto through balls and he did a nice job stretching that defense. that could valuable if we don't end up signing this mystery #2 striker.
Have to admit Findley does have the kind of speed to keep defenses more honest its just that he does not seem to have improved his touch at all. You can understand his lack of success in England.
While he could've done better on the shot, it was unfortunately on his left foot. Not sure if he would've had the angle to shoot right and have it go in. I thought it was taken well enough for what it was. I'm sure had Findley had that attempt again but on his right foot, he probably tries to slot it far post. Even if mystery striker doesn't pan out, having the likes of Findley or Plata starting, and the other coming in as a sub, will be great for wearing down defenders.
I'm not sure the first action in months for a player who has not even been fully training is the best way to judge his touch. It very well may pan out that his is abysmal, but I think a better sample size would be helpful.
But that would defeat the purpose of BigSoccer: To make snap judgments and publicize personal knee-jerk reactions to every single thing that happens.
I didn't see the match, but I'm not trippin' on Findley just yet...mor excited about how y'all said Plata and Vianna did. We wanted quickness and we got it...now let's see if the lil guys can stay healthy and I think it will be an exciting offense nontheless. *edit* I have been accused of being a half glass full guy at times
This is BS, check your logic at the door! Robbie Rhino is clearly back based on his first touch 5 mins into a preseason match. Doom and gloom!!! Even if his touch isn't improved, he was still a solid contributor the last time he's here. I fully believe he'll at least perform to the same level, and I'm fine with that. If we get similar production out of #2 and/or Plata, then our forward production will look a lot better than it did last year. After seeing the game last night, I'm a little more optimistic about this season overall.
Hopefully we don't have to play NYRB again, because we don't need Plata bouncing off of Olave anymore. It was kind of like a bug and a windshield. P.S. Damn, Olave looked pretty good last night - better than he did most of last year.
He always looks good when he's not injured. Check back in a month and see if his knee is still holding up. A healthy Olave is a tough guy to beat for any player.
Hopefully Plata learned to go around Olave and not through him. Please tell me he's a quick learner. And yeah...the Olave deal still pulls at the ol' heart strings...