My observations of the match…

[clarette]

At least we don't have the "RSL SUXXXXX!!!!! We r goIn DoWn!!!!" type comments that people seem apt to throw out elsewhere in soccercyberspace.

[jasoncox]

Originally Posted by bordelais7

So unintentional is treated the same as intentional? Seems harsh.

Not at all. An intentional handball is an automatic card. An intentional handball in the box is an automatic red card.

Rojas' handball should've been a freekick from just outside the box.

[Scilaci]

This may have been said already but I want to echo the sentiment.

If the team isn't good enough to beat the ref's bad calls then they probably aren't good enough to win or tie without them. I back that up with two examples: First, the 2 shots on goal when Real was a man down that could (should?) have gone into the net. Second, the first 45 minutes where the team didn't put ANY offense together. The only reason the score wasn't 4-0 was that Countess was playing very well and that they only took one shot on goal when he was gone.

So, as much as I don't like the Penalty Kick whistle, I dislike the first 45 minutes of offense (or lack thereof) even more.

[jasoncox]

Yes, but without Guzan's saves, it would've been 4-4. Both keepers kept their teams in the game.

[Scilaci]

Originally Posted by jasoncox

Yes, but without Guzan's saves, it would've been 4-4. Both keepers kept their teams in the game.

4-4? You mean without Guzan's saves it would have been 4-1 for RSL right? Probably more like 2 or 3 goals. Dipsy had a 1 meter shot, Kreis had a chip in, and Tiger had a rocket shot that Guzan had to dive for. Those are the only shots that were quality opportunities as fas as I can remember.

[jasoncox]

I was saying 4-4 because you stated without Countess it would've been 4-0. 3 shots might be about right as far as quality.

[The Kings' Bishops]

I was lucky enough to see the Chivas vs RSL game live and here are my uneducated opinions of the game. First off, HDC is awesome. Hopefully the RSL management will take notes for the SSS they are trying to build here. Great seats, great parking,(we were out of the parking lot in less than five minutes afterwards), and good home fans. There was one section of fans that rocked for 90, but everyone else was pretty quite. So Salt Lake definitely has Chivas beat when it comes to supporters. Too bad our players could not do the same. The first 45 was disappointing, and the second 45 was frustrating. Instead of initiating any quick counter attacks we held the ball. Kreis and others were making plenty of runs, the midfield and defense just would not release the ball. We were outplayed in the midfield. I was very impressed with Pope, and Dipsy Selolwane (sp?) was not in the game long enough to make the impact that he is capable of. As far as the hand ball, y'all had a better look at it than I did. Funny how the ref had to confer with the linesmen about it though. I thought the ref was close enough to make his own decision. It sucks to lose a game on penalty kick, but Chivas definetly outplayed us. We should have tied the game in the last few minutes, but overall a loss was warranted. I am starting to lose faith in the coaching staff. One interesting note, we did sit in front of Steve Pastorino and his parents. Steve took off really quickly after the game but his parents are really nice. In fact we saw at least three other Salt Lake fans there. Play up Salt Lake. (Thats for you Soccer Prime. See rule number three.)

[Rocky J Squirrel]

Hand Ball: The ref must determine the the ball was PLAYED; meaning was it intentional? Reflexive self protection is not handleing, having the ball kicked into your arm from the backside is not handleing, having your arm in a normal position for your body moves and having a ball kicked at you from within the .2 second reaction time distance of the balls flight, is judged by wheather the arm's movement attempts to "improve the ball's flight". My judgement is a unitentional hand ball (no card) but should have been a "play on" since an advantage still was with Chivas. Rojas was on the line or outside the box but the ball was inside, calls are based on where the BALL is.

We should have got the PK on the tackle from behind in the box.

Kries missed an easy goal by trying to get the ball in front of his right foot instead of redircting it behind his right foot into an empty goal. Hint: take dribbling lessons from Tiger.

[Aerick]

Originally Posted by The Kings' Bishops

... and Dipsy Selolwane (sp?) was not in the game long enough to make the impact that he is capable of. ...

Amen Brother!!

[Scholesy]

[QUOTE=fuegote]Thanks for your responses. Again, i'm still a newbie, I just wasn't impressed with Rojas...so if you say he's improved, I'll agree.

You don't have to agree, if you see it different that's cool, that what football is all about, personal opinions count. I actually thought our defense was actually really good Saturday, they had too much to do because the midfield let them through each time. I thought that for the most part there were four players, maybe five who were actually in the game. I think Marlon is a great player, most of the time, but for some reason we just seem to lack control of our own motivation.

The bottom line for me is that I can live with sloppy play as long as we keep trying and play the game with guts ... maybe we just have to really battle for a result. I can live with playing with a weak team if everyone on the field puts in 100% ... maybe we get lucky. I can live with a bad performance as long as we take lessons fromit and we don't see the same perfromance the week after ... maybe we boune back with a great game and a win. I can live with a team on a learning curve ... maybe we actually learn something and make some changes and then we improve. I can handle being beaten by a better team ... that's football, somedays we're the better team.

I'll tell you what I can't handle ... no effort, no passion, no energy and no caring after the fact.