RSL Got a long way to go

[SoccerPrime]

Mathis said it all when he said "we need to check our pants and see if we are men".
Thats right Georgia boy, RSL isn't doomed, but they do need to get on the same page.

Cons:
-Pope's red card
-Dipsy and Kreis's unabilty to connect and get good touches
-Ruiz, I hate that diver. Can't wait for him to move to ...somewhere else besides MLS
-With this loss, RSL goes from #2 in the West to #5.

Pros:
-O'Brien played better in Dallas
-Williams returns next week
-Fitzpatrick holds promise and aggression
-Even though we are #5 we aren't #6, Chivas USA (at least for another week)

[Rover]

Early days. We're doing OK. We do need to put the hammer down on San Jose, but from what I've seen we'll matchup well with them.

We also get to watch out triple threat homefield advantage fully come into play:

1. Altitude that San Jose hasn't trained for;

2. Plastic grass (serves them right for making everyone else play on a grass-covered bowling alley);

3. More fans than they get in three games combined.

Bring 'em on.

[Jim Umber]

Originally Posted by Rover

Early days. We're doing OK. We do need to put the hammer down on San Jose, but from what I've seen we'll matchup well with them.

We also get to watch out triple threat homefield advantage fully come into play:

1. Altitude that San Jose hasn't trained for;

2. Plastic grass (serves them right for making everyone else play on a grass-covered bowling alley);

3. More fans than they get in three games combined.

Bring 'em on.

Yeah! And fans that make lot's of noise!

[AreliusII]

Originally Posted by FuzzyForeigner

I just hope i dont get decked for this thread but watching the FCD-RSL game i realized even further that something needs to be done if RSL is to do well

It seems like a rusty machine that does not have any connection with its own limbs.
Poor choice by Pierce on penalty
Ruiz falls more than anyone else i know (even more than my granny)

and i invite you to post any other observations about the game...

I know there are plenty of others but i dont feel like posting ALL of them.

Sorry but Pierce didn’t have many options…

[FuzzyForeigner]

i believe Dunseth was crossing right across Ruiz when Pierce made the tackle.

What is done is done but again....we got 2 goals against becasue of two frikking fouls on that Ruiz. I cannot believe it.

[AreliusII]

Originally Posted by SoccerPrime

-Ruiz, I hate that diver. Can't wait for him to move to ...somewhere else besides MLS
(at least for another week)

Not only is Ruiz a diver, he is an expert diver. He gets what he wants by the way he plays. He is astute. Did you notice how he pushed Pierce off before the “penalty”?

[AreliusII]

Originally Posted by FuzzyForeigner

i believe Dunseth was crossing right across Ruiz when Pierce made the tackle.

What is done is done but again....we got 2 goals against becasue of two frikking fouls on that Ruiz. I cannot believe it.

The first was an absolute joke. The ref’s inexperience showed. The second: the ref didn’t have too many options.

[Rover]

Originally Posted by AreliusII

Not only is Ruiz a diver, he is an expert diver. He gets what he wants by the way he plays. He is astute. Did you notice how he pushed Pierce off before the “penalty”?

Having watched the Galaxy closely since 1996 and Ruiz since he joined the team, I can tell you there's only one way to beat him at this fouling thing.

His game is to get inside the head of his defender by hitting them (fouling them) early and often. This sets up up the physical play that he uses to flop and draw fouls. Defenders have to turn it around on him and get to him first. Don't give him the opportunity to establish his schtick with the ref. And, sorry to say, you have to draw some fouls on him.

It isn't easy to do since he's a master at forcing the retaliation foul (and the ref always sees the retaliation, not what incited it).

For the defenders who have shut him down, the secret was to get him out of his game. Not easy, but it can be done.

[Deuce]

I don't normally get into the Monday morning manager stuff but I do have to say this;

The hardest part for me to swallow on the bad calls was that they were extremely inconsistant calls.
The red card was an obvious mis-call. Now if you use the justification that the league took on the red card than there should have been at least two other red cards in that match. 1 for the tackle from behind in the box of Dipsy(at least a PK, but nothing), and 1 for a tackle from behind on Jason Kreis on the left side of the box in the 1st half

There should have been at least three cards for diving all against Dallas.

It seemed that every time an RSL player went near a Dallas player they fell on the ground and got the call.
While RSL players were manhandled and tossed around to the content of the Dallas player with no recourse for RSL... NONE!

I know it will not change staurday but I do agree that fines for diving should be assessed and even cards and suspensions

[theholmes]

Astute observations all around. THe only thing I want to add is my 2 cents on Fitzpatrick. The Tiger is impressing me. its only been 1 1/2 games, but he looks pretty solid. I cant believe this guy came from a USL team, and hadnt been picked up by an MLS side before.