Heretic Report 8/20-8/21

utah_heretic · 08-21-2005, 04:02 PM

Well, a fun weekend despite the loss on Saturday.

Game...

I thought there were some great performances in this game, and also some problems that need to be addressed.

I was thrilled to see how effective Scarlett was on the left side. It was really nice to see some good crosses coming in from that side. He is very fast, I look for him to play that position alot.

Brown I felt contributed more at Right back in the second half than he did up top in the first half. That having been said, I felt like he played extremely well at right back. I couldn't tell whether Rusty got injured again, or just what happened for him to sit out the second half, but I'm really liking how well Brown works out of the backfield on the right side. I think it brings quite a bit of flash to that side of the field.

I watched the replay of the goal several times last night, and for the life of me, I can't see how that ended up in the goal. Frankly it looked like Chung simply caught Nolly off guard. Nobody around him seemed to act like they thought Chung would shoot that ball. Broome looked a step slow to close it off, but it certainly didn't look like Chung put very much on it.

Gregorio played right midfield in the second half, and played pretty well. He has much more composure and looks more comfortable distributing the ball than does Brown when he plays there. I'm not convinced that they shouldn't have left Andy out wide, and brought in Adolpho or even Kamler in the center to push Jason forward. In any event, I am excited to see Adolpho continue to contribute, and hopefully he will become more dangerous as he gets more comfortable with the team.

Kreis battled hard all night in the midfield, but couldn't seem to stay home often enough to be effective, in the first half, he tracked back when he didn't need to, leaving us short of midfield options on the counter-attack. In the second half, he often found himself too far forward making it difficult for us to stop the Earthquakes counter.

Jay, despite looking a little lackluster on the goal, played a very good game. He was exceptionally good at keeping the flow of the game going by distributing close. He was a monster in the box with the ball in the air, as we all expected him to be. I especially loved seeing him up at midfield making a play on the ball to keep the pressure on San Jose near the end. On the whole, I thought he showed well for himself, and I expect to see more of him in games to come.

Andy looked kind of lost up top in the second half, call it a bit of a failed experiment. By the end of the game, he was so gassed, he was spelling himself by playing in the backfield while Nellie pushed forward. He definitely left it all on the field.

Speaking of Nelson Akwari, I thought he had yet another good game, and he was in my short list for Corazon de Leon on this one again. But I think that run Nolly made to midfield to play the ball back into the offensive end kind of swayed me.

My MOTM---Robert Scarlett
My CDL------Jay Nolly

On a side note, I felt the refereeing was an improvement from the last few games...Referee: Hilario Grajeda, who was the referee for the drubbings RSL received at the hands of Chivas and the first away drubbing at the hands of FC Dallas

Real Lite game Sunday ...

When you look at the line-up for this game, you'd be hard pressed to call it a reserve game. I'm fairly certain we have fielded weaker teams for the senior squad games. DJ Countess, Clint Mathis, Seth Trembly, Jamie Watson, Adolpho Gregorio, Gustavo Cabrera. Hmmmm.

I unfortunately missed some of the first half, would have really liked to see Mathis' goal, as it was his first in the run of play, which would be his first this year...perhaps a sign of things to come.

This game definitely turned into something of a hack-fest in the second half. Trembly got into it with a San Jose player near the end, causing a bench clearing scuffle. No love was lost between Waston and Conway either, as they jawed at each other consistently through the second half. The mood on the sidlines though was decidedly lighter, as Clint harrassed somebody involved in the scuffle from San Jose, warning..."that's a 2-game suspension and a $5000 fine."

San Jose definitely wreaked havoc on our shape in this game. We got sucked quite far in from the sidelines, with SJ opting to try to push thru-balls most of the second half.

Trembly worked his butt of on the left side, He put in som excellent hustle, pushing the attack, and he played in front of Behnke who looked almost more clueless than ever, so he often had to track much further back on defense than he ought to have.

Cabrera looks very solid. Aside from being very fast, he is surprisingly good in the air for as short as he is. I think Nelson needs to work extra hard to maintain his spot in the defense if Cabrera's knee gets any better.

Watching Jamie can be an exhausting and frustrating endeavor, but it almost always involves the reward of some remarkable play. For a player who has occasional flashes of brilliance, Jamie can make some horrible touches. He traps too far from his body when he is posting up in front. He doesn't often make very good use of players in his vacinity when he has the ball, often passing too soft and or too short a ball to somebody who is effectively marked. He makes some wild flicks on to nobody when he ought to settle the ball and maintain posession. He can get so emotionally involved that he almost takes himself out of the game. Then not 3 minutes later, he can do something like he did today. He made a subtle touch while running onto a ball near the left sideline. By doing so, he nutmegs the sweeper who is running full bore at him, springing him free to run at the goal. He jukes yet another defender as well as the keeper before managing somehow to lay the ball off to a following Adam Acosta. It can be a bit like watching Brett Favre play, "No, don't do that damnit! ...YES! YES! YES!"

It was good to see so many people out for the game, and some lucky teenage fan ended up with Tiger's jersey. Hopefully We'll see you all for the Harbor View FC game on Wednesday.

rslfan · 08-21-2005, 04:53 PM

so even though you don't think he's a good player, if I recall the play, he actually had the assist on the winning goal..The first half Jamie started the play that Mathis finished on.. He's young and sometimes his havic play, makes things happen and the ball finds it's way into the net. Way to go Jamie.

RSL1 · 08-21-2005, 06:42 PM

Great to see that Cabrera was out there finally and that you felt he looked strong. Again, I keep writing this on the board, but I think that in some way he's actually the biggest upgrade that we have because while Gregorio and Scarlett are clearly better than the other guys that play their positions, Cabrera (in the vast number of times that I have watched him) is literally night-and-day compared to Rusty Pierce, Akwari, Dunseth et al. That's not knocking those guys because they're very important to our club. However the truth is that there is a difference between a player who has been playing professionally since he was 18 and who is the captain of the defense for a relatively strong national selection versus a bunch of guys who have previously been good collegiate players and who were thus added to MLS rosters to round out the side and provide depth.

Glad Cabrera is healthy and I'm looking forward to seeing him work collaborate with Eddie Pope to nail shut the backline. We really seem to have made some very good additions this window - even if the playoffs are a remote possibility it remains important that RSL continue to provide a good product on the field so that the team can grow for next year and so that fan support is rewarded as well.

utah_heretic · 08-21-2005, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rslfan

so even though you don't think he's a good player, if I recall the play, he actually had the assist on the winning goal..The first half Jamie started the play that Mathis finished on.. He's young and sometimes his havic play, makes things happen and the ball finds it's way into the net. Way to go Jamie.

I don't believe you read my post very carefully. I hardly said Jamie wasn't a good player. I even described this assist in my post. I'd defend my position if you had actually read it all. :slobber:

Section 37 · 08-21-2005, 07:34 PM

Heretic, I think your analysis is pretty good. I, too felt Scarlett deserved to be recognized as MOTM. That's outlined in another thread.
What is crazy is that it was his first game but he really stood out. We need him.
I have new hope for the rest of the season.
The boys have their work cut out for them. Colorado is surging.

ReAl · 08-21-2005, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rslfan

so even though you don't think he's a good player, if I recall the play, he actually had the assist on the winning goal..The first half Jamie started the play that Mathis finished on.. He's young and sometimes his havic play, makes things happen and the ball finds it's way into the net. Way to go Jamie.

I think it was a good analysis. Comparing him to Brett Favre is a compliment.

rslfan · 08-21-2005, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by utah_heretic

I don't believe you read my post very carefully. I hardly said Jamie wasn't a good player. I even described this assist in my post. I'd defend my position if you had actually read it all. :slobber:

My error, I was distracted when posting. I meant to say, he can sometimes make amazing plays when least expected.

GoReal · 08-22-2005, 10:50 PM

Now we just need him(Watson) to get some more results (putting the ball in the back of the net!!!!!). He has the one goal that broke the nasty and ugly scoreless streak, but has been unable to tally any since that game so long ago. Hopefully he'll come through for us in DC.

GOReAL!!!!!!!

SoccerPrime · 08-23-2005, 06:00 AM

Thanks for the Heretic.
I was out of town (and TV) since Thursday so your write up brought me mostly up to speed.

Its exciting to hear that Gregorio and Scarlett are assests not liabilities.

Jim Umber · 08-23-2005, 09:37 AM

Yes, things are definitely looking up. I only hope it isn't too little too late. But even if it is, we may look a lot better next year. We're an expansion team...and we're expanding. With these additions, we may even have a real shot at the playoffs. Any way, things are looking up.