RSL v. Crew May 21 game thread

Rover · 05-22-2005, 12:17 AM

I don't see an [R] on this thread so I'll avoid talking about the score.

But, a little perspective.

On the marathon-not-a-sprint theme, if RSL was going to lay an egg this would be the night. Sure, it's frustrating--still haven't won on the road, still can't put together a total team effort, and all that. We're on a rollercoaster, remember.

However . . .

1. Two of the three teams below us in the West (Quakes and CRapids) both lost today, so we didn't lose ground. The cheetos play tomorrow, so we could come out of this OK.

2. Columbus is an eastern team, so in the long run we don't care if they get a win. We don't want a loss, of course, but this was a three point game, not a six point game.

3. Next two are at home, without a midweek game to disrupt practices and overall preparation.

4. I just got back from the HDC, where I saw a 10-man Galaxy beat the Quakes. The Galaxy are just flat out good. We did very well to beat that team.

So, to sum up. If cheetos lose tomorrow we effectively lost no ground today. We just beat two western teams in a row, and one of those games was a win against the team I'd pick to win it all at this point (other than RSL, of course).

Get home, regroup, prepare, and beat the Fire next week. Sounds like a plan.

Jim Umber · 05-22-2005, 07:02 AM

I agree. I just wish we could get our attack going. As someone pointed out to me last night, every time Andy Williams gets the ball, he passes it all the way back to start over. We need a little more creativity. Like...I don't know...pass the ball forward? Even sideways would be an improvement. It just seems a little strange that a team that really NEEDS to score goals spends so much time passing the ball the other way. Also, when we do get the ball in front of the goal, it seems that no one really wants to shoot. They ALWAYS pass it on. [RANT] IF YOU CAN SEE THE GOAL, SHOOT! [/RANT]

Czar Jake · 05-22-2005, 08:51 PM

Seriously, how many times did we all yell "SHOOT" at Iggy's??

Rover · 05-22-2005, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Czar Jake

Seriously, how many times did we all yell "SHOOT" at Iggy's??

Why shoot at Iggy's? I thought you guys liked the place. 😉

HibaIssa · 05-22-2005, 10:50 PM

Ok, I haven’t watched the game yet but I feel like being positive about it. The impression I got from the Trib (again, I haven’t watched the game yet) seems to be that we didn’t do too horribly. It seemed like we were just tired. The third game in a week has sure got the be draining. Like someone said earlier, we didn’t loose any ground in the standings which makes me feel better about the game.

I guess the best thing to do is to concentrate on Saturday’s game and move on. 🙂

SoccerPrime · 05-23-2005, 05:41 AM

Yeah this game sucked. I taped it and watched it later. In fact it was so bad, I actually fast forward thru most of the 2nd half.
1)I can't believe Frankie "the Flame" Hejduk scored on us. Oh man...
2)Why every time, every time we have a fast break, we kick it back to the midfield to start over. I know we have to sometimes, but everytime? Are we the only MLS team that does this?
3)Frankie?

Oh well its true, its only a Eastern game, but still, we had a chance to get some meat with blood in the water. On to Chicago...

clarette · 05-23-2005, 08:26 AM

I thought we knocked the ball around well in the midfield, but as we all know by watching the Seedy Cheetos, knocking the ball around well means absolutely NOTHING.

We were really lacking in the last ball -- we gave Columbus too much time to get back and organize, and subsequently ended up passing the ball right to them because they were sitting right on top of our passing channels.

Both goals = major ball watching. Coach E will almost definitely do inordinate amounts of drills on defending set pieces this week.

Sigh.

Deuce · 05-23-2005, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clarette

I thought we knocked the ball around well in the midfield, but as we all know by watching the Seedy Cheetos, knocking the ball around well means absolutely NOTHING.

We were really lacking in the last ball -- we gave Columbus too much time to get back and organize, and subsequently ended up passing the ball right to them because they were sitting right on top of our passing channels.

Both goals = major ball watching. Coach E will almost definitely do inordinate amounts of drills on defending set pieces this week.

Sigh.

Agreed our defence was pretty solid... our midfield was handling the ball well.
They just seemed to lack the desire to finish... the match was honestly like watching one of the passing drills in practice.

I think the 4-5-1 leaves Kreis vulnerable to double and triple teaming, the ball will never get there if that continues.

My only real complaint was that they seemed to lack the desire to go to the ball, and there was much ball watching on the set pieces
Other than that major issue, I thought they looked good.

Viva Real!!!

clarette · 05-23-2005, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deuce

I think the 4-5-1 leaves Kreis vulnerable to double and triple teaming, the ball will never get there if that continues.

I agree. I don't love the 4-5-1.

I understand why it's been tried -- namely, to have Williams and Mathis playmaking together and still have a defensive midfielder -- but it still makes me crazy.

It would be helpful if more of our defenders could learn to play the ball out of the back more, instead of hitting vertical balls straight at Kreis constantly.

Aero · 05-23-2005, 08:54 AM

I'm going to try and forget that game ever happened. I'm going to pretend that they were really tired and that is why they played so lethargically. With a week to recover they will be fine on Saturday and get us back to our winning ways.