RSL vs. SJ and MLS week 10 preview and predictions

May 31, 2008 by f4denz.

Can RSL make fans forget?

It is often said that winning makes everything easier to swallow, well RSL fans have been choking down a lot of losses, a lot of disappointments, and this week many got a huge increase in the cost of their season tickets as the team prepares to move to their new stadium. When your ticket price jumps over $400 bucks per seat, and your team is sitting in second to last place (something that is very common for RSL fans), it can be enough to push you over the edge. Perhaps the timing could not be better for RSL, they have four of their next five matches at home, a place where they have not lost a match all season. But wait, it gets even better, two of those home matches are against San Jose (the only team worse than RSL so far this season), so a couple wins at home and RSL can move up the standings, and ease the pain in the wallet that fans are feeling. It really is interesting that the relocation event starts the Monday after that 4^th home game in three weeks, it may be the smartest thing the RSL staff has done in a very long time, but likely they didn’t plan it at all. OK, on to the match at hand.

San Jose comes to RES for the second time this season (first was a 4-0 defeat in a LHUSOC match), and they do so without a number of key players: Ayres, Glinton, and Peguero Jean Philippe are all out to injuries, Kamara, and Guerrero are both gone for national team duties. San Jose did pick up Jovan Kirovski, and Kelly Gray from Colorado, for keeper Preston Burpo. They also signed Amir Lowery and Dan Benton. Will any of this help San Jose, I doubt it, there number one issue has been scoring they have only put 6 balls into the back of the net all season, and while Kirovski has proven he can score goals (24 in his 4 seasons in MLS), it is not enough he scores one goal for every 345 minutes of playing time, or one goal every four matches, simply not enough to lift San Jose from their scoring woes. Will Ryan Johnson live up to the “former RSL player” curse? Atibia, and Esky both put in goals when they faced RSL earlier in the season, and I would not be surprised if Johnson did the same thing tonight.

RSL has been decent at home, granted they blew leads late against Chicago and the Galaxy, but both matches could have been wins. Ian Joy is out on a red card suspension, Movsisyan and Sturgis are both still out with injuries, as Espindola, Morales, and Olave are all expected to play but have ongoing injuries. The question is how much confidence can RSL have after getting outplayed against the Rapids a couple weeks ago, and last week giving up two late goals to snatch a road win against Dallas from their grasp? Can the RSL defense shut down the struggling Quake offense? Will RSL start to get balls into the box for Deuchar to finish? Can Williams, Morales, Beckerman, and Kovalenko control the midfield and help RSL dictate the pace of the match? There are so many questions, will this be the match we get some positive answers, I think so. I am going to pick a 3-1 RSL victory as we continue good form at home.
Game Guide

More about who isn’t playing than who is

The matchup between TFC and the LA Galaxy is really more about what players will not be playing, for TFC the list is long with both international duty and suspensions: Robinson, Sutton, Guevara, and Robert all are gone for this match, and Marshall and Dichio both are nursing injuries. The LA side doesn’t get much better as Beckham and Jazic are out on international duty, Vagenas is nursing an injury, and does anyone really know what is going on with Landycakes? He goes to England, but fails the fitness test, he is not listed as a starter in this match, has travelled a lot this week, and has the USMNT match with Spain in a couple days, so will he play or not? I am going to think he may be a second half sub, but LA without a healthy Donovan, and without Beck’s is not a very good team, they may be getting Ruiz back, but his form can’t be up to par after spending so much time out with injuries and now playing with a bunch of guys he hasn’t had a lot of playing time with.

I think TFC takes advantage, most of their defense is there, they can bring in a striker like Jeff Cunningham, and they still have Edu and Ricketts in the midfield. I have to think that will be enough to beat LA, so this one will be a 2-1 victory for Toronto FC.
Game Guide

The match almost no one will see

Another HDNet exclusive (which means less than 15% of people can see it, and in this case it may not be a bad thing) will feature the second match of the week for the Dynamo as they face off with the New York Red Bulls, and add in the fact that they will be without DeRo and Onstad for international duty, and Robinson for a red card, plus Barrett still most likely out with an injury, and things don’t look good for Houston. On the Red Bull side, the only real impact is Stammler is still nursing an injury, but expected to play. I have been waiting all season for the Red Bulls to click as a team, but on the heels of one of the ugliest beat downs in MLS history (1-5 loss to Chicago), can they recover? It is hard to believe a team with such offensive power as Jozy Altidore, Juan Pablo Angel at forward, and Van der Bergh and Borman in the midfield, and a fairly solid defense, have struggled as much as they have. I think this match will be a great chance for the Red Bulls to rebound and find some form, I pick them to win this one 2-1.
Game Guide

MLS Rematch of the Year (so far)

The last time Chivas and the Crew met it was considered by many to be the best MLS match this season, a 4-3 victory for the Crew on their home pitch, but the rematch is going to be played at the Home Depot Center, and the focus of the league may be more on the action in the stands than it is on what happens on the pitch. Chivas has had issues with the supporter groups, including banning members from matches for violent behavior, but not to be out done, the Crew have become the center of some controversy as fans were videotaped making racial taunts during a recent home match against New England. So both clubs have become shining examples of the wrong types of behavior in the stands.

On the pitch Chivas is more like a hospital than a soccer team, they have varying states of injuries to the following players: Bornstein, Eskandarian, Galindo, Vaughn, Wicky, Sotinca, Suarex, and Thomas, heck that is a nice core of a team. While Columbus doesn’t have a lot of injuries, they will be without their anchor as Frankie Hejduk serves a red card suspension. I simply think Columbus will be trying to get the focus on the pitch and not the stands and with Robbie Rogers becoming a star in MLS, it will prove too much for the goats as Columbus picks up a 2-1 win on the road.
Game Guide

Showdown in the West

So FC Dallas sits in second, and Colorado sits in third and both are within three points of first place Galaxy in the Western Conference race, so this match up has a lot of implications for both sides. FC Dallas is coming into their third match in eight days and they are 1-0-1 in the previous two matches, but they will be without a couple key pieces to their roster, as Adrian Serioux is on international duty, Andre Rocha is on a red card suspension, and Wagenfuhr and McCarty are both out with injuries, Rocha is the teams leader in assists. Colorado is without their number one keeper Bouna Coundoul who is on national team duty, and have a number of players nursing injuries (they have had this problem all year), Mastronei, Burciaga, DiRaimondo, and Petke. I am tempted to pick Dallas in a road upset, but I get a feeling this one will end up as a 1-1 draw.
Game Guide

OFF MY SOAPBOX

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