OK, what the heck, I'll start another game day thread. I know, the hubris. For only being the 9th game of the season this could be a rather telling game for RSL. Does it have real playoff or supporter shield implications? ABSOLUTELY NOT! What it might reveal is that this team is closer to the team that played the first 4 games with grit and determination over the team that has played the next 4 games and looked young, unsure, and totally taken apart by a really talented team in NYCFCFC on Easter. I personally think that the team that played against NYCFCFCFC is closer to who this RSL team really is and that game was a warning to the FO that there isn't a position on this team that couldn't be upgraded. And I'm not talking about signing a DP at every position. You can't tell me RSL can't find a player to take Taters place in giving up 4 goals a game and playing out of position. Amirite? As we have seen this season, and last for the most part, heart can take you relatively far but can it take you to the playoffs again and again and again? For me the biggest need for RSL right now is some solid play in the midfield, which was the main issue last season, and finding speed almost everywhere. Especially up top. None of that will happen before the game on Saturday against PTFC so if RSL comes out of this match with a result I will be happy. Hell, even a well fought 2-0 loss with a bad call or two that fans can blame the ref for but RSL played like wounded racoons trying to wash off the cat food you set out for the feral cats in your neighborhood and hissing at you for not giving them the good cat food then yea, that's better than getting run off the tiny little pitch at a baseball stadium. I predicted 9-1 for RSL last week and that nearly came true to a certain extant so lest go with 2-1 RSL and watch the magic happen.
The Portland match will cement the fact that this team sucks and needs investment from its new owners. Multi goal loss coming this weekend.
I’m actually out on the Oregon coast right now Have been since Saturday The thought crossed my mind to extend the trip to go to this game. Given the last run of games? Think I’ll just get home as planned
Why did we rest so many starters for this game? It's unlikely they get more than 1 point. Win last night would be better for everyone.
I don't know if any of you have kept up, but lots of Timbers fans are pretty upset over their FO turning a blind eye or even covering up abuse and harassment from former Thorns HC, among some other things.
I hope we lose 7-0. I hope we keep getting dominated until it becomes absolutely undeniable to the owners that this team, as it is, is dog shit. Force the owners to do something. If Almeyda can get fired by the Quakes ownership, surely our ownership can do something to move us in the right direction.
This team isn't as bad as the 6-0 at NYCFC. They probably aren't much better than the team that barely made the playoffs, either. If the playoffs are the goal (should be more than that, btw), this team needs help. They need a better performance than they've showed the last few outings if they expect to even draw with POR. I don't know how anyone can expect all 3.
PTFC 1 - 3 RSL. Goals by Kreilach, Meram and the nail-in-the-coffin by Glad on a late-game corner. I'm not ready to get onboard the HMS EMBRATSU just yet.
You mean the starters that just suffered the worse loss in club history? Yeah totally should have started those dudes
It's definitely a cause for concern/worry, but I'd like to see a healthy team run out it's first choice players/formation for a few games before going doom and gloom. I know this team needs help, but they haven't had all the players available. There's enough to be competitive with most teams and be fighting for a playoff spot (if healthy). Short of adding talent, what would you do with this group? Who plays? How should they play? Team seemed to do better in a 3 man backline (Schmitt is not a LB and RSL should avoid that if possible). I prefer the 3-4-3 to the 3-5-2, but I don't know how Kreialch fits.
I have proven time and time again to in no way be an expert but I also like the 3-4-3. Would that have helped in the NYCFC game to have more defenders back against their really good front 4? If we have learned anything in the first 8 games is that Schmitt is not a LB. That poor kid has almost played himself out of the league the last few games. No matte what happens in Portland this weekend, the truth is that, this roster sucks. Sucks big time. The first four games were truly an anomaly just like we should all hope that the last 2 RSL games are also an anomaly. I don't expect RSL to win this game but I do hope that they come back with a few gold stars on their foreheads.
Sucks is relative. Compared to the best teams in the league, yeah they don't compare. Are they anywhere close to worst in the league? I don't think so. Are they a borderline playoff team? Maybe. You can't play 3 in the back with 2 healthy CBs, and Herrera doesn't work back there. I'm not a fan if this roster has little flexibility with adding players. I hope Elliot doesn't have to pay other teams (like the Jazz do) to take players because he signed too many and doesn't have room for the difference makers that are supposedly coming. In theory, they should be able to add >6 impact players, but I don't know if there's room on the roster (according to league rules, yes there's more than 6 holes on the roster). Like you said, I expect a much better effort and showing Saturday. I'd be very happy to see a tie, but a close game is expected. Time for some pride to show through.
Sucks is relative for sure but this is not a great roster. The team has proven that it's probably better than the roster but that is a dangerous game to play. It's certainly not the worst roster but its definitely no where near being the best for obvious reasons which is totally understandable. For now. My worry is that RSL, as a whole or at least the FO, has been sucked into a false sense of security with the LUCKY yet gritty run in the playoffs and the surprising and proven unsustainable start to this season. There are a lot of players on this team that are as good as they are ever going to be and players that are never going to be as good as they used to be. Every team has them but if your team is full of them and you have an FO that can't see that a Chang or Rubin are as good as they are ever going to be but yet they think they still have tons of room to improve then that is a recipe for disaster. Time will tell and it is a long season but I do think that this team is closer to the one that has played the last 4 games, and the Open Cup game, than it is the team that made the late run last year and the fun start in the first 4 games of this year. If nothing changes between now and May 4th when the window closes there could be some really hot seats around the club when the summer starts to heat up. Going to be interesting either way.
This game should give us a sense of where Pablo’s priorities lie in terms of a 3 man back line or putting Kreilach in a specific spot glad Silva and orozco are all healthy. There is no real reason - especially with the rotation we saw - that they shouldn’t start. If we see a continued 4 man back line then I’m truly lost on what Pablo wants to do with this team After a less than stellar pair of games Schmitt should be dropped, Brody put at LWB and Herrera at RWB. Caldwell and Ruiz in the middle the front 3? That’s where this gets perplexing. I think Wood gets the nod at striker. The question then is if we see meram on the left, Chang on the right, or Kreilach withdrawn. Only 2 of those things can happen. If it were up to me I’d play a 3-4-2-1 of sorts with chang and Kreilach underneath wood. It gives space for Brody and Herrera to push forward into. Meram tends to drift wide left and forward and would turn this into a 3-4-1-2 that was heavy on the left side and expose gaps for Portland to get in behind no matter what we do, I have next to zero confidence on rsl getting anything out of this. Thus far, the team that seems to have Pablo figured out the most is Portland. I see a multiple goal loss with rsl chasing the game after going down within the first 15