Houston vs. RSL [R]

rabble-rabble · 04-22-2006, 09:06 PM

Our 5-man mid-field was virtually useless in the first half. We were fortunate to be tied after 45 minutes. Big stops by Garlick kept us in it. Second half went much better. The midfield started getting some possession and creating a few opportunities, but ironically it was a defensive blunder that Cunningham pounced on and with the help of a fortunate bounce off the post, gave us a short lived lead. But we gave up the equalizer before we had a rare chance to enjoy a lead. Nothing we could have done on the corner, it was simply a perfect pass and perfect header.

Jason very nearly gave us the lead on his free kick, but I guess if you have 2 chances hit the post, you can't expect to have both of them score.

Late goal broke our hearts. Hoping we can finally break through and get a win against the Galaxy.

El Chalan · 04-22-2006, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Victory

Yikes. I was very unimpressed with how we played. Does anyone else find it ironic that switching to a 3-5-2 actually made our passing and possession worse?

Yeah. It seemed like the spacing was bad tonight and nobody seemed to know where anyone else would be and just played the long ball over and over.

xlyte · 04-22-2006, 09:52 PM

Cutler hit the nail on the head at half time ... they didn't battle as much as Houston, they didn't want it as much. But nothing seemed to be done about it ... they would play balls to people and a Dynamo player would come around the side of them or put a leg around them and get to the ball first.

The thing that really disappoints me is that i know that individually in each player we have enough talent to do well in the MLS. But as a team it just doesn't seem to come together. Had we played good football we could have certainly tied if not beaten Houston with how they played today. If this season is anything like last i feel we could go through it with games that we could have won, but didn't because we didn't play as well as we can.

SokkerNut · 04-22-2006, 10:10 PM

Just got back from the game. What can I say that hasn't already been said. After the second goal you could tell by the RSL's body language that the game was over---arms on their heads and the look like we loose again. I must say I was really impressed with Kreis. He just goes about his business on the field and doesn't get into that constant battle of words with the referees. Speaking of==the guy in the center was horrible. I guess I never noticed it by watching on t.v., but does Williams always play that far back on the defensive side? Hopefully they get this turned around for the Galaxy game next week.

soccerman · 04-22-2006, 10:11 PM

What the hell is the point of putting 5 people in the midfiled and then blasting 40 yard passes every chance you get to ensure they won't even be part of the game. I hate to say it, but it really looks like Ellinger needs to go. It can't be bad luck and it can't be coincidence. We're the worst team on the field nearly every game we play, and even when we aren't we can't win. He seems like a nice guy, but he isn't getting the job done for us.

clarette · 04-22-2006, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by soccerman

What the hell is the point of putting 5 people in the midfiled and then blasting 40 yard passes every chance you get to ensure they won't even be part of the game.

The million-dollar question...

Rover · 04-23-2006, 12:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by soccerman

I hate to say it, but it really looks like Ellinger needs to go. It can't be bad luck and it can't be coincidence. We're the worst team on the field nearly every game we play, and even when we aren't we can't win. He seems like a nice guy, but he isn't getting the job done for us.

Concur.

No more excuses. You either get the result, or you don't.

It's not about the bounces going against us. It's not about being an expansion team (that excuse ended last October).

How many losses do we have to put up with? Maybe, oh, 25 losses in 36 games?

BetterThanChivas · 04-23-2006, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rover

Concur.

No more excuses. You either get the result, or you don't.

It's not about the bounces going against us. It's not about being an expansion team (that excuse ended last October).

How many losses do we have to put up with? Maybe, oh, 25 losses in 36 games?

Agreed. Ellinger has not been a great coach. There are games like the NYRB game when you think, "They have really improved."

But then they come out like this, and it just makes everybody frustrated. If they don't win the LAG(at home, we've beat them before) game, I'm part of the anti-Ellinger group.

Aerick · 04-23-2006, 02:52 PM

Sorry to break the mood here, but I don't share this pessimistic outlook. I agree that the first half didn't go all that well, but I was very happy with a lot of things in the 2nd half. In fact, I believe we won that half, but the unfortunate "hand of god II" goal did us in. We get corners, we get shots, we get in the box. This team and its play is like night and day from last year in my perspective.

So we haven't had a win yet. Did you know that almost the entire starting 11 was replaced in the offseason? Did you know that anytime that happens it's going to take a little time for things to gel? Did you know that Houston had very few changes to their starting 11 during the offseason (if any)? And did you know that this was the same team that won the Supporters Shield last season? And did you know that we played them at their home, in front of a raucous crowd akin to ours and almost came away with a draw? Did you know that we weathered an extremely tough change in momentum after their first goal and kept them scoreless for several minutes in time to change the momentum again?

Good grief people, lighten up! I still say this is a good team. Is it a perfect team? No! Is it a team that has made mistakes that were at times costly? Yes. Are we much improved from last year despite the results table? Yes.

the Bardguy · 04-23-2006, 02:59 PM

We haven't won in 17 games. We've only tied two of the last 17 games. Taking our entire existence into account, statistically speaking we can only hope to tie one out of every two games...and not even hope for a win. We average less than one goal per game.

On the post game show, Watson told a caller how he and the whole team buys into Coach E's philosophy...whatever it may be. I don't, and the results back me up. If we're pessimistic, it's because the past gives us no reason for optimism.

Why would a normal fan want to pay good, hard earned money to watch their team lose night after night? It's not a stretch to say that RSL is not a good team, and it's less of a stretch to lay a lot of the blame on the coaching staff.