Believe it or not, we actually have an attacking DP on the field... you wouldn’t know it even if you watched him all game but still
Well that was incredibly deflating. I really don't care for Wondo. Anyone not worried about our CB depth is...not watching.
On the positive side we were the better team against one of MLS’ better sides until the 80th or so. Giving up 3 at home to a Western Conference team hurts.
We only had 4 shots on target. One was great, the others were dribblers with no pace or danger. Meram (?) had another off the crossbar. He also just missed one past the right post.
So far In his time at RSL Meram mostly has a track record that says, “Close, but no cigar”. I like his fire and his hustle though. In the postgame show Dunny stated that ‘...it’s also a learning lesson for the coaching staff to maybe not have belief in a couple of different players.” I’m not positive as to the couple of players he was referencing. I feel fairly sure that one is Holt, given that his statement came on the heels of pointing out how inexcusable it was to not tightly mark Wondo. The other player is less well defined. Could it be Silva, and his track record of missing many games due to injury as was the case tonight? Maybe Rusnak, who was mostly invisible tonight?
I knew we were in trouble when SJ subbed on 3 players early. After the subs even before Wondo time SJ started bossing the game. Lots of bright spots for sure but I still have zero, absolutely zero, faith in Freddy. People complain there was no one on the bench but whose fault is that? Schmitt, iloski, Ramirez, Portillo all could have played a lot more minutes last year if Freddy could count to 5. Freddy can’t see past next week. If he could he just might have prepared guys last year to be able to trust them this year. Also, what the hell has Douglas Martinez done to warrant playing time over any of the other subs?
I'll do my 15 next week after some more reflection, but this loss can be attributed to two key things. When you're dominating a game, you can't only lead by a single goal. In the first half, RSL was the better side. For the first 20 or so of the second half, as well. yet all we had to show for it was a (ridiculously good) goal. Adjustments. Freddy does not know how to coach within the game. When SJ sends 3 guys up to the 4th official that early they're either throwing in the towel or they're going for it. They were doing the latter. Credit to Almeyda. He saw something in the RSL setup and went directly at it. Mostly, it was that there was no way the midfield was going to be able to keep pace with the man marking demand if SJ threw in fresh bodies. While SJ didn't score until after the 80th, they took control of the game in about the 72nd right as Wondo came on. The players own the first one. Freddy can't put the ball in the net. Meram should have finished one if not both of his chances in the second half. Kreilach's was at least saved by the GK, so credit is due there. Freddy owns the latter and the reason why this went from a win all the way to a loss. A draw would be understandable and somewhat acceptable from a coaching perspective with the chances missed. To not adjust to how SJ was pinning us back was just flat out stupid. I don't care how little Freddy thinks of how those guys train, the game needed a sub. Portillo should have come on for Besler or Ruiz or maybe even Kreilach. Why the hell did we bring Morgan into this team if not for a game like this where some MLS experience is needed? Schmitt should have come on for a lagging Rusnak to just run his ass off. One of the dropped points is on the players. Two are on Freddy