3 Easy, now a Test

Hey, would ya look at that...It's truly amazing what a first half goal, even if it is a bit later than hoped for, can do for this squad. It took a great piece of individual effort, a ridiculous pass (made possible by Kyle Beckerman), and quite the finish to finally get it, but RSL got a first half goal and a career first for Jean Alexandre. I want to preface all of this, though, with a word of caution. Vancouver is a really bad team. Awful, in fact. They will be competing with Toronto this year for who sucks worse, it seems certain. I don't want to damper a fine effort by the boys in red, but it was rather obvious how much that team needs to improve to even compete realistically in this league on a consistent basis. With that said, here are a few brief thoughts on the match and my 2 awards ('man of the match' and 'wanker of the match').

While the final score proved to be one that put RSL in a great light, there were plenty of areas that could be improved upon. The midfield did much better at maintaining possession, but still had moments of stupidity in which they would give it away and allow a quick counter. Had Vancouver actually had a decent striker on the pitch, Nicky would have been forced into some saves much earlier than he was.

The midfield, to its credit, seems to be finding its identity now, though. Without Javi, they aren't anywhere near as creative or fluid. Instead they are realizing they have to work hard and move the ball, via 1/2 touch passes, quicker. With Javi we were allowed to slow it down as he could make that cutting pass or beat a player 1v1. Without him, however, we lack that ability (or at least at the same level). Ned, Kyle, Collen, and Gonzo seemed to really find a bit of chemistry between them. These things take time and practice, we are starting to see the improvements I believe.

The back 4 were solid as ever. Schuler may as well have put on Olave's jersey as he played a carbon copy of our big man. Tremendous match from him with some great individual efforts made to win balls and turn them into the attack. Beltran is our speed to initiate an attack. If he wants to earn himself a permanent spot out there and make Kreis hesitate to rotate Russell in, he has to improve his skill with the ball. He has come a long way, but still has room to improve. His next steps should be to develop a shot that he can cut in from the wing with and let loose. If he does that, as Wingert occasionally does, he will be given more room down the wing as defenders will know they have to play him honestly. Right now, they know he is looking for a short pass or a cross every time he comes up the field.

All in all a good match. Not great, not spectacular, but good. For brief moments you could really see the joy of the game come back over the guys. It wasn't so much a chore but a passion. This was especially true after the first and second goal. This team feeds of each other a ton, both in a good and bad way. When we are on, it seems to get exponentially better. When we start to struggle, though, we have a habit of getting on each other and dragging it down. Its a dangerous thing to possess, but the positive side of it is so great you learn to live with the negative.

Man of the Match: The Jean MachineNot only was his goal incredibly special, but his assist for Espy's goal was quite ridiculous as well. I was ready to give this award to Grabavoy as I thought he had quite the night, but you can't refuse the guy with a goal and an assist. Truly a great night for Jean, but it was just a single night against a horrible team. To prove it wasn't a fluke, he needs to step it up this week with two very challenging road games.

Wanker of the Match: Bilal Duckett (#3 defender for Vancouver)
Really this "award" could have been given to any player on the Whitecaps roster save maybe Demeritt and Canon. The reason I am picking on Duckett, though, is because he especially stood out to me in a sucky way. I couldn't decide if he was Attiba Harris or not, which is not a compliment in any way, and decided he couldn't as he sucked even worse than Harris. He got burned multiple times and hacked away at Espy all night. On a team full of pretty bad players, he took the award for the night. Way to go.


Moving on: Games at Columbus and Philly
As I have said a couple times in this post, this coming week is a true test of this squad. With two road games against decent opponents, RSL can show if this game against Vancouver was a turning point or if it was merely a hesitation of a slowly sinking ship. While I don't expect RSL to walk away with 6 points (not that it wouldn't be fully accepted) I do expect at least some points to be gained this weekend. The Columbus match posses, in my opinion, the best chance for RSL to get points. It won't be easy, especially given the fact we knocked them out of CCL earlier this season, but they aren't tearing up the league. They will be missing Rogers, a player who gives us fits, so we should be about level with them. Being strong on the defensive end is key. We won't be scoring more than 2 or 3 goals this week, I guarantee it.

Wednesday morning I'll post a pre-game article for the Columbus match.

FORZA REAL

Cheers,

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