The Day After
September 13, 2007 by f4denz.
So at this time yesterday many of us were still feeling the excitement of what was in my opinion the most entertaining match RSL has every played. A few weeks ago many soccer commentators said that the 5-4 NY Red Bulls over the LA Galaxy (with Beck’s) was the best match in MLS history; I would now offer that last nights RSL lose to DC United was a better match. No it did not feature 9 goals; it was a typical 2-1 final score. It was not a showcase match for new MLS talent, there was no Beckham or Angel, it instead was two teams missing their biggest names. Eddie Pope (America’s best defender) and Jamie Moreno (all time MLS scoring leader) were both out of the lineup, with Eddie under the weather and Jamie was on national team duty for Bolivia.
Nope it was simply two teams giving 100% for every minute of the match; it was attack and counter attack all night long. It was shot after shot (24 in total) but not just shots but shots on goal (17 in total), it was 2 PK’s being stopped by great plays by super keepers. It was a physical battle that saw the officials call 39 fouls, and issue 8 yellow cards. For an interesting take on the officiating during last nights match see Ian Plenderleith’s piece on ussoccerplayer.com.
I have watched most of last nights match again, and the second time you notice how much effort was put out by the guys on the pitch. Both teams truly battled last night and the shame is that there had to be a loser, but when you face the best team in the league (historically the best team in MLS) on their home pitch, getting a result is a hard task. It may just look like another loss in RSL’s horrible season, but I enjoyed watching that match as any I have seen in 3 years.
If a casual soccer fan, or even a sports fan who is on the fence about MLS and soccer, this is the match to show them. I believe that any open minded sports fan would be blown away by the effort of the players, and excitement in the stands. Here is hoping that RSL despite the loss will stick with that style of play in the future, because more often than not it will end up in a positive result for them if they do. Now with all that being said, I did notice two very real problems that Jason must deal with either this season or in the off season if RSL is to move up the table. First is the lack of size on the roster, with Eddie out sick and Atibia on national duty RSL did not have a single player over 5′10″ on the pitch (no Carey Talley is not 6′1″, he is no taller than I am at 5′10″), on set pieces size allows you to take advantage offensively and stop the other team defensively. We lacked both last night (and have most of the season), with 9 corner kicks and a half dozen close set pieces, RSL got not a single goal last night. The second weakness is that we still need a solid number 1 striker, Esky has the heart but has not finished this season, and Findley has the speed but has also not finished as often as he should have. Is the solution Fabian? Only time will tell but I think any of the three would make a great second forward but we need a better solution at forward. 23 goals for and 37 against is all the proof I need that we have not replaced the scoring we had last year with Jeff Cunningham, and I do not see anyone on our current roster who can fill his golden boot.
Here is hoping that Saturday afternoon (1:30 pm MST on Direct Kick and Fox Sports Rocky Mountain) when we face off against Toronto FC, that we get our second road win of the season and move ahead of Toronto in the combined table.
OFF MY SOAPBOX