RSL vs. FCD Game Thread [R]

SoccerPrime · 06-03-2005, 07:39 AM

Since I posted this everywhere else, why not here:

Besagno likely will be in RSL's starting lineup
http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_2777294

SoccerisLife · 06-04-2005, 05:44 PM

Hope that Besagno plays!!! :D I want to see what he can do!

Rover · 06-04-2005, 10:20 PM

Pain. Much pain.

A few thoughts:

1. We really, really, really, really miss Eddie Pope.

2. Plenty of blame to go around, but too many players spectated as follow-on runners put in two goals after Countess saves. The first goal by O'Brien was the result of some criminal ball watching by several players.

3. So one of our defenders (to remain unnamed) dribbles and the ball ends up behind him as he moves up the field. I didn't know if I should laugh or cry.

4. Besagno did OK. Not great, but he didn't embarass himself on the big stage. Hey, he was picked first in Superdraft--he should be good.

5. So much for Clint's big breakout game.

6. Can we take a shot that the opponent can't deflect?

7. The bad news--we've been shut out in three straight, and haven't scored in 321 minutes of play.

8. The worse news--at LA, at San Jose, home for LA, then at Chicago.

9. The very slight silver lining--cheetos continuing to be really bad, Colorado still trailing in the standings. Bring on the playoffs!

10. I could go on, but I'm trying to keep it upbeat. Tough to do after such a disjointed performance. Sure would have been better if the 40,586 had seen something better from Game 2. Game 1 was good, that's for sure.

So let's beat Panama, get Eddie back, and surprise the Galaxy at the HDC next weekend. Think positive.

soccerman · 06-04-2005, 10:45 PM

The first game was awesome.
The second game was wretched.
Clint Mathis had better decide he's going to show up some time soon.

utah_heretic · 06-04-2005, 11:14 PM

I agree we miss Pope,though I think Akwari played quite well all things considered...but we nonetheless had difficulty keeping shape in the back and we simply cannot continue to allow opponents to have that much time with the ball facing the goal inside of the box. In point of fact, the score could quite easily have been much worse if not for some dreadful finishing on the part of Dallas.

Speaking of finishing, WOW...I don't even know what to say about how dreadful our shots were tonight with rare exceptions (I don't even know what Behnke was thinking with that 45 yarder, but that's its own kettle of fish). But that hardly even ranks in my top five dissappointments tonight. We looked pretty lost in the midfield today, and no, Besagno's presence was not a calming effect. No, not a disastrous performance, and he did play better as the game went on, gaining more confidence. For the life of me, I can't understand why, if we're going to play 5 midfielders, we nevertheless insist on not utilizing them to advance the ball...far to much booting the ball downfield hoping somebody would make a good play on it. We are not utilizing space very well in the middle of the field...too often we failed to move to space in the center of the field, allowing Dallas to keep too much of their defensive shape. Worse yet, we have fallen back into a pattern of allowing opponents time to turn and see the field. Mostly, we need to take greater care of the ballin our transition...it is painful to watch us string a few good passes together only to give it away with an errant pass, or failure to utilize people running through...we were constantly disposessed in the midfield today**cough**Andy**cough**...I don't mean to be too negative, but we don't look like we're on the same page right now...we were constantly laying the ball short to people running away from it and lobbing it over people who expected service short. It will come, but it's going to take a lot of work and a lot of "looking in the shorts" to scrape out some victories. There were many good things that happened, we just need to find a way to make them happen with greater frequency.

On a much lighter note, the WCQ was out of this world fun...GREAT GAME!!!, I can't remember when I've had that much fun.

SoccerisLife · 06-04-2005, 11:38 PM

*We want Pope back!*
*We want Pope back!*
and everyone else 🙁

Nikolas did well, I think.
nice slide-tackle saves by dunny eh?
we needed more of them!
Poor Countess two great saves down the drain.
Who was the unamed defender that lost the ball?

**GO RSL!**

HibaIssa · 06-05-2005, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rover

Pain. Much pain.

Ditto that.

We needed Eddie, even though you can't blame our whole defense problem on his absence, we should be able to at least function without him.

It was nice to see Besagno play. You can tell he's still young, but he didn't do horrible tonight either.

For the first half I would probably name Brown the man of the match, but second half I would say DJ.

Just a little quote to add 🙂

The goalkeeper is the jewel in the crown and getting at him should be almost impossible. It's the biggest sin in football to make him do any work. ~George Graham, 1997

Jim Umber · 06-05-2005, 06:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HibaIssa

Ditto that.

We needed Eddie, even though you can't blame our whole defense problem on his absence, we should be able to at least function without him.

It was nice to see Besagno play. You can tell he's still young, but he didn't do horrible tonight either.

For the first half I would probably name Brown the man of the match, but second half I would say DJ.

Just a little quote to add 🙂

The goalkeeper is the jewel in the crown and getting at him should be almost impossible. It's the biggest sin in football to make him do any work. ~George Graham, 1997

I agree that Besagno did pretty well, considerring.

I want to add something that no one seems to be mentionning. In the first few minutes of the game, I saw Andy Williams moving forward! It didn't turn out all that well, but he went forward. I take this as a very good sign. If he and Mathis and Kreis could keep that up, we might have a chance to score. But once Dalas scored, they all went back to their old "If I don't do anything, I can't do anything wrong" attitude. Of course THAT'S wrong!

And finally, I love that quote. I agree with it, wholeheartedly.

SoccerPrime · 06-05-2005, 12:59 PM

*sigh*
We have now lost 3 games in a row, 7-0...

-Trembly had a good game, just can't cross good enough. But man he tries.
-Williams was much more visible and tried a ton more. He must be reading our comments here on the board.
-RSL's #1 prob (besides Pope being absent) was that we were caught watching the ball too much, especially in the Defense.
It was nice to see Dunseth disposses Alvarez twice, but that sad thing is that Arturo burned Brian to almost get the chance.
-At least Besagno played well, almost had a goal and got called for lame yellow on ROB.

Scooter Von Bundesliga · 06-05-2005, 02:25 PM

I'm getting very sick of these "hail Mary" passes that IF they connect put Kreis in a 1 on 3 situation. I don't think we have scored on one such pass all season long. Yet we still see them time after time. The midfield must advance the ball and cause some ruckus at the top of the box. If we can get the ball and more than one player in a stiuation like that, anything can happen... including easy rebounds.