Well, I mean, he was unaware that he had 5 subs at the beginning of the tournament. You jest, but it might not be too far from the truth.
That was my first thought too. Not much jest there. Freddy needs to go. The coaching pedigree at RSL since JK has been absolutely dreadful. Cassar, Petke, Freddy, anybother teams with such lousy coaching the last 6 seasons or so?
He did use all of the subs in the previous games. I checked. Although one of the games he subbed two players in stoppage time which in this case is like not subbing at all.
I know an in conference season is supposed to take place after the MiB tournament but with how the USL and MLB leagues are going, I'm not convinced sports can exist outside of a bubble. So maybe we aren't in season anymore haha
honestly, with the troubles MLB has had and the success of NHL/MLS/NWSL I don't see why this wouldn't be the best idea. Do the next one with just conferences to determine a group of 4 or so. Then host one last tournament as "MLS Cup". No Supporters Shield this season
With the post-bubble season resuming on Wed, what are you expecting from RSL for the rest of the season? Currently 9th in the West, and just about everyone makes the playoffs this year (18 of 24 teams) that seems like a very low bar. What would be a sign of success for you? At least 1 playoff team, top 5 in the west? Also, since 5,000 fans will be allowed to attend home matches, are you planning to attend? Any idea how they're going to manage that? I'm assuming there are 15,000+ STH's but not sure if demand will be greater than the 5K number for each game. Also very curious how they'll manage seat assignments
I have very low expectations for the season. And really the future success on the field for RSL as long as they continue to have sub par head coaching.
Honestly, not overly excited about this. Mostly that has to do with my apathy for this team and their lack of a vision/identity. More than that, though, is that this feels like a really hopeful plan that will have hiccups and it's only a matter of big they will be. With that said, lets look at the RSL schedule: Aug 22 @ cRapids Aug 26 vs LAFC Aug 29 @ POR Sep 2 vs SEA Sep 5 @ MINN Sep 12 vs cRapids The most immediate thing on this is how many games we play in such a short period of time. 5 of the 6 games will be played in 15 days. That's wild. Further, we're having to travel for 3 of those 5 games and it's not exactly short trips. Then you add that we're not playing some schmuck teams. Sure, we get to play the cRapids twice, but I think our "domination" of them was more of an outlier than a reflection of reality. That first game will really set the tone for this phase and I have a bad bad feeling about it. As for being a STH: I will not be attending. It would be more of a challenge for me if this team was fun to watch, but they simply aren't. You add in the 5k limit and it seems like the right answer to just say "pass". Also, this hasn't been said enough, two of the three home games are on Wednesday night's.
So I guess the idea is to get as many games in as possible in a small window of time to perhaps lower the risk of transmission. If everyone is negative at the start of the window they should know by the end if anyone picked up the rona during the games in the window. I haven't paid close attention but I'm guessing they then have a two or three week break and another 5 or 6 games. I am tempted to go to a game. At least one. I would wear a mask, maybe even gloves, and sit as far away from another human as possible and not purchase anything other than a bottled water, if that. But then again... I have done a 180 and left my pollyanna days behind. Far behind. I don't see a win in those six games outside of the CRapids and then only on the last game of the list. I expect Colorado to be ready, very ready, for RSL on the 22nd. Hopefully the games will get played at least. It would be nice for MLS to be able to complete a "season" while successfully protecting the players, coaches and staff outside of the bubble.
Does it really make sense, when not using a bubble format, to have games so close together? all it takes is one positive case in these teams and the whole thing goes sideways
I look at the compressed schedule as a means of “minimizing the amount of time together per game”. As @goobx1 posted, it’s one of the available tactics to reduce spread of the virus. It’s a tough schedule and we aren’t playing well right now. 5 points from 6 games seems about right. I will not attend any of them.
where do you see us getting those 5 points? I see a point, maybe 3, against the cRapids on the last day. Otherwise, I don't see us as getting points in any of the others.
Also: “minimizing the amount of time together per game” I'm not sure I follow on this. Are the games not going to be 90 minutes long? Would we have otherwise stayed in hotels? Did we find a way to fly to Portland/Colorado/Minnesota faster? (non snark question: will charter limitations be lifted?)
Sounds like yes on the charter flights: https://www.sounderatheart.com/2020/8/8/21359920/don-garber-outlines-plan-mls-return-to-play
So this sounds more chancy Covid-wise than the Bubble. Does this mean that Nedum is going to sit the rest of the season out?
Besides the Charter changes, look at the number of days together in the interval of 8/23-9/5. That’s 4 games in 14 days. Otherwise quantified as 3.5 days per game; to include training, travel and the game itself. Compare this to the more typical 7 days/game of a normal season. This schedule halves the time together for those 4 games (This doesn’t include days off. I don’t have information regarding the team’s plans for those).
Doyle's take on what RSL needs during the secondary transfer window is up here. Interesting take on Rusnak, and fair comments on Freddy and on Baird.
Doyle nails it with his assessment of the club's current state of affairs. Especially this portion: For the rest of RSL's stay in Orlando they were largely pretty clueless in attack, neither possessing well nor transitioning well nor overlapping well nor generating many chances nor winning a single game, and only scoring two more goals — both courtesy of San Jose's chaotic approach to defending rather than anything sustained or purposeful in terms of RSL's chance creation. This is a long-running issue. Part of it is that Freddy Juarez is still a young coach who has clearly prioritized defensive organization over all, but part of it is that RSL's personnel just don't really fit. However, I do not think the club is going the direction he suggests when it comes to Albert (spoiler: he thinks the club is going to build around him as opposed to selling Albert). The most obvious signal of this not being the case is that Albert is playing LW while Kreilach is at the AM spot. More than that, though, is the complete lack of "get the ball to Albert" approach that building around him would require. In Orlando, the ball went to our outside backs more than anyone else in terms of an "attack". That's just... dumb. If I'm Elliot Fall, I very seriously look to move Rusnak. Sure, the hope was probably to sell him after the Euro's as Doyle suggests, but don't throw the baby out with the bathwater here. I'd love this club to go into 2021 with all three DP slots available to use. To do that, we have to unload Rusnak. After that, you move on from Johnson and hopefully the salary of Jeizon isn't above DP levels (just a transfer fee DP). Further, you don't renew Kreilach. Give Freddy a complete new look roster that he has input with. If his team still has zero identity by the end of 2021, then you know it is a him thing and not a player thing.
Easy to say goodbye to Sam. Hard to say goodbye to Rusnak. But, I don't think I can say goodbye to Damir. He's just been too good for us. On the pitch and off. I wish he was younger.
I think the problem with Kreilach is where does he truly fit in at? He seems like he'd be best in a 4 man midfield, which a lot of teams don't really run anymore. He's not a forward, not an AM, and yet that's where he gets most of his time. It seems to hamper our transition from defense to offense.
Kreilach is a very good player, but he's been (IMO) a large reason why this club does not have an identity. Can you name his identity? There is value in being a player that can play across multiple spots, I know, but Kreilach is taking that to a level where it is detrimental to other players around him. We don't get to see Johnson up top for long stretches last year because kreilach takes that spot. Does he do well? Eh, decent enough. But nothing amazing. But those are minutes spent on him that Johnson could have been using to gel with the team. We don't get to see Rusnak at the AM spot because Kreilach is now occupying that slot. Does Rusnak take the bull by the horns when he was at the AM? Certainly not. But it's hard to be overly critical of him not being the playmaker when he's not playing at the playmaker spot on the field. Lastly, and most infuriating to me, the guy was brought in as an 8. The club tried him next to KB and saw issues with the balance. Now that we have Everton it seems logical that we could try Kreilach back there again. But we don't. Instead we get old man KB, or journeyman Besler, or kid with wild changes in level of play Ruiz. It's just... so weird.