Season sixteen, and here we are. I appreciate having all of you to bounce ideas off of, grouse and celebrate with, and have some sort of community with. Here's to season 16 of RSL. Season preview and Orlando game article from Deseret News here. Five key questions as RSL opens the season from the Trib here. RSL raising its expectations in 2020 with new coach and GM from the Trib here. (From January; same photo of Albert) Column/opinion piece on signing Rossi, also from the Trib here.
I feel like there's been a lot of talk this year about how our attack will look but can I just say that it's the midfield I'm most worried about? I'm genuinely surprised we didn't make any signings there. Everton is 31, has at least 1 fairly major injury since we've had him, and is a little suspension-prone. Beckerman is 38 next month and apparently already injured. Kreilach is 31 next month and isn't very mobile for a central mid. Mulholland is 31 and basically a non-factor, no idea why he was signed. Portillo is borderline MLS quality at all and 27 already. And I really like Besler but he's not more than decent depth. I think this roster gets hammered unless Everton can play 30 games, and that's not something we can count on. Even aside from that, why did we load up the roster with so many older USL guys? It's going to be harder to add pieces without empty roster spots.
What is Kyle's injury? I wouldn't be surprised to see him out for an extended period especially since I don't think that they have really let us know what's going on with his foot. I think RSL is at that point where if they keep doing what they are doing and find a little success they will continue to find a little success and not much more. This could get ugly very fast. They could also make the playoffs and if that's the case it will probably only be by the skin of their teeth which would be like putting lipstick on a pig. I'm definitely in the negative nelly camp this season but I'm not going to give this team anything when it comes to optimism. They're just going to have to earn it this year.
The TV said he had an ANLE injury and I was like "yoooooooo, what". But on a serious note, Dunny didn't acknowledge the typo and said that it wasn't overly serious. He also was quick to mention that the club didn't want to do the Javi thing again so I fully expect us to have overpaid for KB this year.
Yup. And then he goes and gets an injury and will not play half the season. Hopefully he gets better soon and can go out on a high note.
That's the vibe I got from the town hall. They played up his leadership role and locker room presence so it felt like that was their way of justifying the salary I expect to see when those numbers are released. I asked if they expect him to start more games than not. They said that was more of a Freddy question, but emphasized that Kyle is a professional and will accept whatever role the coaching staff gives him. So, if Kyle is starting it's because Freddy wants him to, simple as that.
I've never been less excited for an RSL season. And I became a fan in 2007, so I think that's saying something.
Great piece on Nedum on The Athletic, by Sam Stejskal. There's info on his time with RSL of course, but also some very good info on what transpired in his departure from Man City and with QPR. Here.
I was bored at work / curious about RSL's depth chart today so I spent 5 mins going through it and hit a wall. There are a handful of players on this team that I have no idea where you would say is their "first" position. It appears Freddy will continue the 4-2-3-1 with the two midfielders being a D-mid and box to box guy. Here is what I have so far: GK: MacMath, Ochoa, Putna LB: Toia, Morgan CB1: Onuhoa, Holt CB2: Glad, Silva RB: Herrera, Jones DM: Beckerman, Portillo CM: Luiz, Besler, Mulholland LW: Meram, Schmitt AM: Rusnak RW: Baird, Rossi, Ramirez, Chang, Arriaga ST: Johnson, Martinez, Illoski Where do you put the following: Kreilach - is the club just going to move him to ST permanently or will he drop into AM? If so, is he ahead or behind Rusnak there? Garcia - I haven't seen enough of this kid to know where he plays. He's listed as a forward so I'm expecting it to be AM Vazquez - He made brief appearances last season at the striker spot, but I'm wondering if that is where the club sees him.
I don't know if I can add anything to this other than I fear that Freddy is going to try and reinvent the wheel when a good coach would play players in their best possible position that gives the team the best possible chance for success. We'll see if he has or will learn his lesson. Playing Glad at RB was beyond silly and dangerous. Orlando should have used and abused him more but with Toia and Schmitt on the left either side was worth attacking. Sucks for Orlando that they finish worse than RSL.
I would like to see Freddy start the following lineup: GK: MacMath LB: Toia CB1: Onuhoa CB2: Glad RB: Herrera DM: Kreilach CM: Luiz LW: Meram AM: Rusnak RW: Baird ST: Rossi These seem to be the best possible 11. Eventually, we'll need to start dropping Kreilach back to his more natural position and not rely upon him to be our striker.
We've never seen Kreilach and Everton together at the two mid spots, have we? I'm hesitant to say this is what we should do given Kreilach likes to float into the AM spot more than anything else. In fact, that was the problem before when he and KB played behind Rusnak. And it's the problem when he plays ST. He ends up occupying the same space as Rusnak.
We've created position confusion due to our lack of signing a legitimate attacker. No, Kreilach and Everton haven't been paired together. But I believe his natural position in Europe before the transfer was as a DM. His work-rate would help the back line and allow he and Everton to float into the attack every now and then. I'm mostly concerned that the wheels are falling off of Beckerman and we need an experienced/immediate option.
Dell Loy was on X96 this morning talking about Riot now 100%+ solar powered, aka putting more back into the grid then it consumes. Also free electric vehicle charging spaces have been added at the stadium and available for free match days