Well, a point is better than nothing. To be perfectly honest, RSL deserved nothing in this game. A very sluggish game; no an extremely sluggish; no it was so slow the snails watching were saying "pick it up already". RSL looked like a team that was playing its 3rd game in a week and that its bench was depleted with injuries. With that said, DC United looked like the worst team in the league, especially offensively. As a RSL fan, any points on the road is a surprise and are welcomed with open arms. However, this game was not the usual RSL style, at least not for the first 45-60 minutes. Once Andy Williams and Ned Grabavoy came on the play got better, but it still was far from the level this team should play at. The forwards were tired, Espy was lazy, Sabo's touch was off, Javi wasn't his usual self. If that triangle isn't on, the chances of us scoring are slim to none. RSL should have lost, but at the same time the game, overall, was fairly level. Sure DC missed two sitters but RSL had its chances as well. A draw is somewhat deserved... somewhat.
Player Ratings: (1-10, 10 being amazing)
Rimando: 6
Decent between the pipes but showed his lack of height on some crosses. His reflexes are second to none, but you cant teach him to be taller and it nearly burned us a couple times. Some of the mistakes he made would be punished by a team like LA.
Russell: 5
I expected Robbie to be one of the worst players on the pitch Saturday and he didn't disappoint. He wasn't the worst, but he was a far cry from good. We really need Wingert in our back line for me to be confident on Wednesday. Not because I think Russell is bad, in fact I don't think that. I say it because Russell is older and it showed Saturday. Tired legs
Olave: 6
One of the most frustrating players on our team is Jamison. He can be so brilliant with the ball and then be so damn stupid. His mental game is off and it nearly kills us numerous times. If King could hit the broad side of a barn Olave would be getting ripped a new one publicly by Jason. Instead, he will keep it private.
Borchers: 7.5
Nat is the player on this team that you can almost always rely on to have a decent game. He doesn't do anything spectacular but he also doesn't screw the pooch (maybe once a year he does each). Team MVP in my opinion
Beltran: 6.5
Nothing great, nothing bad, Tony is a good player who had his hands full with Najar.
Will: 7
Johnson never seems to stop running. The "energizer bunny" as many have tagged him is a very valuable piece to the midfield. There are a lot of critics of his play but he brings something to this team that nobody else really can. Its pure and simple work rate.
Jean: 6
The guy can go 20 minutes and be doing just great, you forget that Beckerman is on the bench. Then he plays a square pass with no pace or gives it away right in front of the D and you want to strangle him. Minutes are the best thing for Jean and he is slowly but surely improving.
Warner: 6
Collen is young and its starting to show. He doesn't quite fit into the system and gets frustrated easily. He needs to relax, fill his spot, and rely on others to do their parts. Too many times he finds himself in another, usually Javi, midfielders area and breaks up a play simply by crowding it up. I think he can be a good player, just needs to learn more
Javi: 6.5
Morales is our #10. The guy is creative, smart, and cheeky with the ball. His flaw, however, is his speed. This gets exposed time and time again in games like last night. If a team shuts down options around him, Javi doesn't really have the speed to create his own space unless the defender dives in. I love Javi, but you get the good with the bad.
Ned: 6.5
Ned came on and fixed the problems Jean was having. I think Jason would be smart to start Ned instead of Jean against LA. He does well defensively and is a great player in terms of transition from defense to offense. He wasn't spectacular but he was very good at keeping possession.
Williams: 7
Andy has pure class. He is lethal with the ball but suffers from the same speed issue as Javi. However, when he and Javi are on the pitch together they can usually break down a team simply by passing and making proper runs off the ball. I hope he is fit enough to go Wednesday as a starter over Warner.
Espy: 6.5
Fabian can put in a lot of work on one play that makes you very happy, then others he seems to not even care. I like Espy, no doubt about it, but I wish he would play consistent. He seems to also have a bit of an ego that really comes out when the game isn't going his way. I hope we can see the old scoring and fantastic touch Fabian on Wednesday, we are going to need it.
Sabo: 6
This might have been his worst game for the club so far. He wasn't great with the ball and was far too slow both on and off the ball. He has the ability to score out of nothing, but doesn't really have the speed to create much. If you are noticing a common theme, its that we aren't a fast team with the players here.
Campos: 6
He didnt really get much time so its hard to give him a rating. However, he was ok in his limited minutes. Nothing special but also wasn't missing on passes and shots he should have had.
Overall: 6
Lucky to get the point, really. But at season's end, a single point over a loss is HUGE.
Cheers,
15 to 32
Fair critique.
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