The reason our 'preferred starters' haven't scored at all is because they haven't played at all. Sabo - 45 minutes this preseason. Findley - 0 minutes. Garcia - 0 minutes. Morales - 0 minutes. Gil - 0 minutes. So by my count, 50% or more of the attack has played a total of 45 minutes combined in the preseason. I think I see why they're not scoring.
I, for one, am looking forward to the season. We needed some changes made and it happened. It remains to be seen whether the changes pan out to be good bad or indifferent. I put very little weight to anything happening in the preseason as that is, and should be, used to get things settled and results matter only minimally. I think we'll have a somewhat rough start as everyone gets adjusted in a road-heavy schedule. In the long run, I think we'll be ok. I'm just excited for things to get rolling.
no offense IBIK, but this is a shit excuse. the second stringers have come in and made an immediate difference and those guys have far less experience with each other than the 7 or 8 regulars that are playing as the first string. the first string is more or less continuing exactly where they left on in 2012, toothless going forward with quite a bit of useless possession. the second string is much more attacking, taking more risks, putting more shots on goal and actually SCORING. this "preferred starters haven't scored because they haven't played" stuff is a load of shit.
I have to agree with UP here. The only guy on that list I can see changing the game is Morales, if he's playing to his pre-injury form. Problem is, he's injured again. So are we going to see 2012 Morales again, or will we finally see the 09/10 Morales? If Kreis really wants to keep with the 'fortune favors the bold', then he'll be starting some of these backups when the league starts. Show our complacent starting 11 that he's serious about wanting this team to move forward. If there was actual competitions for spots, and riding out hot streaks on anyone showing form in game, then our team will be all the better for it.
Stop bringing facts into this debate. I'm trying to panic. See, more like this ^. Straight into the veins. Now I can go back to hyperventilating.
My problem is with the FO is not doing what they said they were going to do. Trade players to have more cap space and more money to bring in a true goal scorer and they didn't, They have done the same thing they have done for the last couple of year's ..bring in subpar forwards to fill our roster. Where is all this money going. Someone said when I brought this up in jan , that the FO is quiet so we may be getting a true scorer. It's two weeks from opening .......
IBIK - you are being absolutely ridiculous!!! Just because they haven't played doesn't mean they shouldn't be scoring. I know Luis Gil is away with the U20 team, but can't he still put in a few goals for RSL while he's away? And although Saborio was scoring a shitload of goals for Costa Rica, couldn't he have scored 1 or 2 for RSL while he was on the plane ride to Arizona. And since Findley and Saborio did see a few minutes of action in the last couple of games in Tucson, why didn't they score 10 or 12 goals. THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!! "True goal scorers" come in the form of Saborio or Findley in this league. Ones like Messi and Contrao tend to play in Europe. You may have noticed that. Exactly what were you expecting? They brought in three players who have shown some good potential and if things go well can add to the attacking prowess of the team. They are looking for a shot at improving the team. With the economics of MLS there are very few "proven true goal scorers." RSL has two DP's. Sure there are a couple of teams with three. I'd stack Sabo up against just about any DP in the league. Your cynicism of his game is well documented (and unfounded in my opinion), but that doesn't make him less worthy of DP status than others. Morales is a question mark at DP because of his health and form issues. However, if you look across the league you'll find very few teams with two DP's in which at least one doesn't have some questions. Also, didn't Seattle lose a DP this offseason. Maybe I've missed all of their big signings this year.
Gotta love KIR and IBIK always toeing the company line. RSL FO shall not be questioned! And all ia Allways well at RSL
I have plenty of questions, but my questions are all about the #10 role. I question the wisdom of paying Morales DP money. And I don't believe that they have another bona fide option in the playmaker role. I believe that's the biggest question mark on the team. I am as comfortable with the forward options on this team as with any other team in the league. Fans like you always want more out of this position and some are ignorant about the realities of the limitations that exist for what are the most expensive players in soccer worldwide.
I think we're fine overall at CB and I think outside mid should be fine between Ned, Gil, Seba, Viana, and possibly Khari. As KIR said, the 10 is really where we're short. After Morales we're really scraping to try and get something to fit there. I think we'll be at least at the same level or better at forward that we were the last couple of years.
My guess it that they think they can win with a the TiTS attitude. Except this year, if they struggle, I'd say DLH is going to be willing to put up some money to bring in a "name" during the summer transfer window.
It seems to me you would be a happier person if you were a fan of another team. It can't be fun or healthy to harbor this much bitterness.
What I think is clearly ignorant is fans like me listening to and expecting to have the FO reload the striker core on this team like they said they would. Agree strikers are hard to find even harder if you are not willing as a organization to spend the money to sign one. Time will tell but I think it is crazy to think the team that could not score a goal at the end of last season did much to improve its attack.
I think the FO has done exactly what they said they would (with perhaps the exception of the 8-10 day window). You just don't like their choices. Which is a fair reaction for you to have. We won't know how well they work out for a few months now. Maybe your concerns will prove to be valid. As far as "not willing to spend the money", I think you are completely off base there. This league has a salary cap, and yes it appears that they have reserved a portion of that salary cap for a potential summer acquisition. That's a strategic decision I believe (and potentially for the #10 concern that I mentioned). However, if they had spent that remaining cap amount, I think you'd still be dissatsfied. I think you're looking for a million $ plus European cast-off, and that's not going to happen here. If that's your criticism of the team, then so be it.
my judgement is NOT limited to forwards, it encompasses the whole team. 2 and 3 years ago we saw an RSL team that scored for EVERYWHERE on the field. defenders, midfielders and forwards, everyone scored. now we see a team that is apprehensive with the offense, they would much rather methodically pass the ball around with absolutely zero urgency. what i've seen from the second string players is a willingness to play with urgency, push the tempo onto the other team and make efforts to put the ball into dangerous positions. the idea that it has to be attacking only players to make this happen is ridiculous, it's not just the forwards and attacking midfielder(s) that need to have an attacking mindset, it's the whole team. would we be better if we had morales out there orchestrating things? maybe. it certainly isn't a guarantee that RSL would become some offensive juggernaut with him out there (look at the end of 2012). findley has played, he played the second half of the NY game and was dangerous with his speed, but his touch and mental awareness when attacking goal still isn't there yet. but as far as attacking starters not playing, that again is an invalid argument to me. quite frankly we don't know who is going to be starting beyond sabo. morales will be out for a while and who steps in for him is a giant question mark. our starting second forward? again, a giant question mark. the midfield wings? a giant question mark. right now, given what we've seen from the team this preseason in games, all those positions are up for grabs and the "second stringers" have done a much better job making the argument for getting playing time. to me, what we miss the most from an attacking point are guys like williams, mathis and russell. those three provided far more creativity and attacking ideas than we probably realized at the time.
I haven't been able to watch any of the preseason games, so I'm not trying to take sides here. But all of this discussion about how the 2nd stringers really showed much more aggression and looked better going forward than the starting 11 has reminded me of something that I've noticed many times: I think that in most games where the starting 11 struggle, the subs are often praised for looking way better, but are they really comparable? I see this all the time with the USMNT. Take the last game against Honduras, where most people felt like Edu, Zusi, and Kljestan really did much better than the starters, with many claiming that some of them should have started. Maybe they should have. But, my point is that coming on against tired opposition with only 20 minutes to play is much different than starting a game, and so comparing the performance between the two groups isn't all that straightforward. Suppose that Kreis had switched lineups and started our 2nd team, and then brought on the first 11 late in the game. I'd bet that the 2nd string guys would have struggled, and we would all be mad that Kreis didn't start our "best 11" because they were much more aggressive. Anyway, my point is simply that just because the 2nd string guys looked more aggressive and more willing to take shots doesn't mean that they would have looked that way had they started the game. Coming on late against tired opponents, especially if you are trailing, you should be more aggressive and willing to take risks. Maybe Kreis even told them to do that. Doesn't mean they would have looked that way from the start of the game.
i see your point, ivensor, but in the preseason that doesn't hold up because in every game both teams are changing the entire lineup either at half time or 10 minutes after half time. these aren't second stringers coming in and playing tired first stringers. what is a better argument is that our second stringers played the first string of NY in the first half, then the first string vs. the NY second string in the second half. against seattle it was 1st vs 1st and 2nd vs 2nd. in both cases the 1st string looked mundane and content with little attacking ideas while the 2nd string played with more urgency, more attacking risks and creativity.
I agree with this, but that's not how your original post came off. It sounded like you were placing the blame on Sabo, Findley, etc. I think RSL is trying to get back to that, and get more attacking quality out of the midfield. Have they accomplished that? I'm not sure. Viana was supposed to help with this, but I think he's been disappointing overall this preseason. Velasquez has the opportunity to help with this, but he needs to be more consistent and more effective. Gil could help with this, but he's shown a propensity to become invisible at times.
The sad fact of it is, our second string is willing to sacrifice some defense in order to attack. They won't start for that reason. Kreis seems to be going to the extreme with the defense first mentality, and stifling our creativity in the process.
I think the front office has done a good job this offseason. Really though, I'm not sure that some of the big name teams over in Europe could live up to some of the expectations of some of the people that post here. I'm sure IBIK and KIR have expectations of this team, but are more rational because they understand how MLS and RSL work. It's one thing to be critical of things here and there, it's another thing to basically mail in the season before it's even started. If I didn't know anything about soccer, I'd think that from reading this thread that RSL is destined for a last place finish this year.
I personally don't think asking for players to shoot on frame or asking for a forward to score more than 5 goals in a season is asking to much.