Great clean sheet 100% earned by Putna. Disappointed with Douglas. He seemed disinterested in the first half and I wanted him off for Sam at the half. Then he blows two golden opportunities. He needs to show some improvement or the minutes need to go to someone else.
I’m an avowed fan of Sam. He is a better option than Douglas if you ask me. Putna was stellar tonight. He’s bought himself the starting role if you ask me. He could be pretty good. Freddy with some “early” subs. Hopefully early enough because EVERYONE could see Meram was done and hopefully didn’t get a knock waiting for his replacement. Still subbed in Kyle way too soon. Still reserving judgment on where RSL is until they can put some consistent play over several games.
The two outside backs have played a lot. Glad seems to be the main back-up for both. It worked tonight in the left. It didn’t work so well a couple of weeks ago on the right.
All in all not a bad point. RSL very hard done by VAR. Again. How does that hand ball not get sent to the field for the Ref to take a look? Utterly ridiculous. Also, Reynoso looks to be officially on the RSL players 10 most wanted. Has he said or done something I’ve missed? Not that it matters but those guys really don’t like him. Fine with me. The only good thing that came out of the hand ball and bitch slap was Dunny with the very quick “VAR Check Complete” call. That could catch on. Overall I thought Putna saved this game for RSL. See what I did there. It had a 3-1 or worse written all over it without his good play. Minnesota seemed to have more dangerous chances and was really unlucky not to convert. I think the draw was relatively fair but RSL came out ahead of you ask me. How does Douglas keep getting the nod to start? I guarantee you Sam puts away the chances Jr. screwed the pooch on. Didn’t miss Baird at all if you ask me. Still reserving any overly optimistic positive expectations for RSL until they put 7 or 8 consistent games together in a row. I want to see Freddy get this team on track but my continuing hunch is that Freddy is just like Petke and Cassar and is really incapable of rising above their level. These last 9 games will be a great test for him.
Nailed it. Sadly. Lost to Vancouver. Not good Beat LA. Not bad Tied Minnesota. Decent Overall that is not exactly how I would have predicted. I think most would have thought the win would have been Van and a tie or two from LA and Minn. Still though 4 points is alright I guess but they had the opportunity to beat the 5 point over under. So the next nine: LAFC at home Seattle away Vancouver away Portland at home Crapids away FCD at home San Jose away LAG away FUKC at home 27 possible points. I think they get them all and Freddy wins MLS coach of the year. Just kidding. 4 home 5 away 6 teams above them in the table (tied with LAFC on points) 3 below (VAN, LAG, SJ) That is a pretty stout final 9 games. I think I would put the over under at 13 points. Less than half available. RSL currently on 18 points in 14 games. 13 or more in 9 seems like a tall but doable order but we shall see. I think if they get 13 or more points that probably gets them in the playoffs. All we every hope for, right? What say you?
I wasn't able to sit down and watch the full game against Minnesota. I had family over for the first time in awhile and had the game on in the background. Every time I looked up in the second half it felt like Reyonoso should have scored. So not sure what to make of that. Putna did have some great saves. Ironically, Ochoa didn't play for the Monarchs over the weekend (or make the bench) which suggests he is on the move over to the first team. So of course now Putna is going to play well. I was shocked we didn't concede given how many of the same players started. Seeing a triple sub by Freddy Juarez was amazing. I didn't think he knew how to do that. Given I didn't watch, here is what I took away from the stat sheet on whoscored: Putna winning MOTM is telling about where the ball was most of the game Rusnak and Martinez were the lowest rated starters, which is not good The overall rating meter really tipped towards Minnesota in the final 30 minutes. Freddy used all 5 subs with only 1 happening in stoppage time The heat map for Martinez is confusing This team is incredibly right footed still - of the 12 shots taken, 10 were with the right foot Herrera lead the team in passes yet rarely found himself making those passes in the final third (heat map supports this too) When looking at the passing maps of Chang and Meram you can see where those players belonged on the pitch. Then you pull up Rusnak and it's like a shotgun blast. I would have thought his would look cleaner like the other two. Rusnak and Meram lead the team in loss of possession. This isn't surprising but also isn't good. We committed 19 fouls to their 8. But that's ok, guys, it's not who we are Glad committed 5 of those fouls. He wasn't booked until the 5th. That's some bad officiating. Possession wasn't as lopsided as you'd think (57/43) with some of the other stats, so that's good?
I think you nailed it. On Meram and Rusnak, at least Meram was creative and dangerous on multiple occasions. He was quite the nuisance early in the second half down that left side. Rusnak was pretty much a non factor much/most of this game. Again. The thing I can't get my head around about this team is whether or not it's actually a good team. There seems to be talent and a whole lot of ability on the field but when they are successful and dangerous is it because they are over achieving for the level of talent on the team? Or on the flip side when they suck are they under achieving? A lot? Is the coach getting the most out of the talent and we're lucky to be in the playoff hunt? Or is the talent underperforming for a coach that can't seem to get a desired and consistent form of play from a talented team? For me I think that this is actually a rather talented team that should not be battling for the last playoff spot. They should be playing for playoff seeding and not just making the playoffs. My guess is that a better, more experienced head coach would make all the difference with this roster. Maybe Freddy figures it out over the next 9 games. I hope he does for the teams sake. If I were a betting man I don't know if I would take that bet.
I disagree. I think too much is made of our top players (Rusnak and Kreilach) compared to what they make. Jeizon is a non-factor for 2020. Johnson can't get any sort of consistent go. The top 4 players on this team, salary wise, are either decent but not top level, or flat out not good enough. That's not the start of a good team. Further, our GK situation is way worse than I think any of us thought it would be. With all the talented backups we've had, THIS is where we are once Nicky retires? What the ********? The center backs are inconsistent. Glad has had some serious howlers lately - that cRapids game man, woof - and Nedum isn't the solid presence we need from him. Silva is Silva. Expecting him not to be the head case 3rd string CB is just dumb. Left back was a point of concern when 2019 ended. If you looked at that roster and said who on the starting XI is weakest, there was a serious argument for LB to be up there with FW. So what adjustment was made? Two mid level MLS guys brought in to backup a mid level MLS guy. The problem? Those two have proven to be busts and we're stuck with the one. Herrera is the best player on this team in a lot of ways, but the depth at RB is completely non-existent. The central midfield is confusing. Everton took a big step back this year. Ruiz has stepped up, though, which is nice. Besler and Portillo are both on the roster and that's about as much as you can say they contribute. They are last part of the roster players, but are filling spots where we need more from them - especially with the scheduling congestion. The wingers have been such a wild mixed bag. Baird looks like he's gone all American Psycho on us. Meram can be really great, but when his style doesn't work the downside is extremely steep. Chang is up there with Ruiz for breakout star of the team. Though, it has to be said, his last few matches haven't been as stellar as before - expecting that was unrealistic. Kreilach? I still don't know where he belongs in the roster. Rusnak? He doesn't play like the attacking mid we need, and his style is even worse on the wing for what we need. Then we move to Martinez and Johnson up top who feel like more of the square peg for a round hole approach we've had since Sabo left. What is frustrating is that 2020 covid rules have made it so players like Illoski, Schmitt, Garcia, Holt, and Vazquez don't get to go play with the Monarchs for development. And Freddy refuses to give them any sort of run with the first team. Honestly, there are moments I wish the team was worse than they currently are so those guys could get more time. Sitting in that last playoff spot gives Freddy zero incentive to try something different. The same 15ish players get time. In a normal year, that can work and make sense, but 2020 is anything but normal. I think it's a missed opportunity, personally, to not utilize these guys more. To me, this roster isn't good. This team isn't good. Honestly, they are about where they deserve to be - barely above the playoff line. Thinking we're in the top 5 of the West is very misleading.
Great thoughts on the team. I think that there is some talent on this team but the team is poorly put together for sure and not well thought out. There is a lot of blame to go around for how this team ended up here. It's like it was put together by committee. I also think the team is poorly coached. I think both the poorly created team and underwhelming coaching ability just makes matters worse. Do I think that this is a MLS cup contending team? Hell no. In my opinion this team, even as poorly thought out and put together as it is, with a MLS level or a just above average MLS level coaching this would, ok could be, a solid middle of the pack team. This is not a great team. This is not a very well put together team. This is not a very well coached team. As it stands they are who we thought they are and where they should be. I think with a better coach it would be quite different. You know, like a coach that makes decent subs and stuff. Actually, the best way to describe this team and season is frustrating.
This situation is more head-scratching actually, because Alvin Jones was mid-level in the USL rather than the MLS.