RSL @ LA Galaxy [R] April 9

[AreliusII]

Jamaicans Williams and Marshall clash in MLS

CALIFORNIA


Saturday, April 9th 2005


Experienced Jamaica internationals Andy Williams and Tyrone Marshall clash on opposing teams today when US Major League Soccer (MLS) enters its second weekend of the 2005 season.

Williams and the new franchise Real Salt Lake City travel to The Home Dept Centre to meet Marshall's Los Angeles Galaxy, both sides coming off winless results in their season-openers last weekend.

The main highlight of the game though is the appearance of US international Landon Donovan -his first for the LA Galaxy and a return home to the MLS.

[Czar Jake]

Guess what? The weather tonight in Southern Cali is expected to be..

WINDY!

Winds around 20 mph with higher gusts. Not as bad as East Rutherford, but how about a game without any wind?

[BroncsBomber]

Okay, I just finished watching the game and we lost 3-1. Landon looked awesome and we were lucky to go down by just 2.

Man of the match. I'm a a homer from another state but I'll give it to Kreis due to putting in the first ever ReAl Salt Lake goal.

We did not have very much offensive build up and we had too many defensive lapses and passes that were intercepted.

I was impressed by Dipsy's run and Rusty Pierce on the defensive side. losing Andy Williams did not help our offensive shape at all. I like the runs with speed from Kreamelmayer. D.J. had a couple of nice saves.

We will hopefully look better at home. This game was a good showing that we still have a little ways to go before we develop ultimate team chemistry.

[SoccerPrime]

oh well its late, but a bit of a bummer. The Direct Kick match was all Fox Sports West, which is, to say the least, biased towards LA. I don't think Allie boy and Maxie-pooh mentioned that LA was playing RSL. At the end I turned the sound off, how annoying. Did they mention that Donovan was back enough? I was a huge Landon fan until tonight. Tonight I was hoping that Pierce or Akwari would clock him.

Kreis got his goal and Brown did well. Luke is a rookie and Mathis...well he tried.

[BroncsBomber]

That shot from Brown had some velocity to it.

[Jim Umber]

It was a bummer, no doubt about it. 🙁 But next week, we'll walk all over the Crapids, and that will feel much better! :D

[Rover]

I was at the game--not a fun night, to say the least. A few thoughts:

1. For RSL, my concerns about last week's problems were confirmed. Our defensive organization is below MLS standard. I remain unconvinced about Behncke and Akwari. Behncke was better than last week but was overmatched against every player he faced. Akwari who was caught napping (literally) a couple of times and cannot seem to pass accurately. Pierce fought well but was physically overmatched. Pope and Countess played decent games, but it wasn't enough to counter the others. We need much work on defense.

2. Midfield play actually wasn't that bad. I'm no Williams fan, but he didn't get a chance to show his value so no rating for him. O'Brien was OK, but a personal low point for me was his second half corner kick into the side netting. We were already taking some serious heckling by that point, and a U6 mistake like that unleashed the flood. Embarassing, if not actually that important.

3. I haven't watched the replay yet but from the stands both Mathis and Kreis battled, ran, and created chances the whole night. Both were double or triple teamed whenever they saw the ball--which is what I'd do against them too. Mathis was tough to handle, and was the vocal leader--he gave it big time to the defense after the first two goals. But Kreis in particular was impressive, and had no quit in him. Clearly the man of the match for us, and a leader on the field. We're lucky to have him on the team. The others--Dipsy, Rojas, et al, were OK, but not great.

4. The other two problems were very basic ones, and were in evidence all over the field (might not have been obvious on TV). First, we were beaten to ball and/or stripped of the ball routinely. Second, with the exception of the ten minutes or so after Kreis' goal, we had trouble weighting passes properly and RSL players too often were left without passing options by their teammates.

5. The wind was not a major factor. The field was great. Temperatures were perfect for soccer. No excuses with weather.

For the record, the Galaxy looked very good. Donovan was his old self, and showed tremendous pace. He clearly was their spark, and not just due to the goals. He drove them forward all game and they responded. Cobi and Landon work together very well--that's an underreported advantage for the Galaxy now that LD is in yellow. Regardless of what happened to them last week in Columbus, they looked like playoff contenders to me. They also drew a big and noisy crowd. Interesting, but they didn't have announcements in Spanish, like they've had since I started going to Galaxy games in 1996. Hmmm.

In the end, I had one moment to jump up and cheer and that was it (and I could hear my cheer echo across the field, so I didn't seem to have much company). The Galaxy were more fluid and organized, and made us look like the expansion team we are. Don't get me wrong--we have the elements to contend for the playoffs. However, we still are not a team yet, and since that will take time we will have to be patient.

Overall, a tough night for an RSL fan in the HDC, but not a depressing one. We have what it takes for a winning team. We'll get there--but we clearly are not there yet when matched against a quality team.

[Deuce]

Look at these LA Riot Squad members

Ummm what do you say to something like that!?

Cool helmets but not very clever brains inside!

[clarette]

I had this dream on Friday night that we lost 3-0. Not too far off. 🙁

I'm glad Rover commented on the work done up front by Cleatus and Kreis because that's exactly the sort of thing you don't see on TV.

I actually thought Dave Dir nailed it right on the head by saying that we didn't keep LA's defense honest enough by moving forward on the flanks (it looked like we were getting killed down LA's right flank in the second half!). And the players quoted in the Tribune this morning pretty much got the rest of it by saying that we squandered posession too much.

It looks like the team is still figuring out exactly how it wants to attack -- they know they *should* play through the midfield but were having extreme difficulty doing so last night (credit to LA's midfield) but haven't really developed a Plan B yet.

[Jim Umber]

Yeah, it was ugly. But next week the disaster falls squarely upon the Crapids, as we trounce them thoroughly! No doubt about it. This will happen!