The Game is 90 Minutes Long...

In what shouldn't be much of a surprise, RSL fell short in the dying moments of their game down in Houston. For whatever reason, whenever we play that team - especially in Houston - the level of drama raises just that much more. What stings the most in this particular case, however, is not that the goal came in stoppage time but where RSL had been in the game previously. Someone obviously needed to remind the guys: "hey, the game is 90 minutes long".
There are a lot of things that RSL did both great and awful in this game. Ultimately, the negatives won out (in horrendous fashion) and now RSL is quickly finding themselves in the chase not for the top 3 spots in the West, but in the chase for one of the wild card spots. Just weeks ago RSL had itself separated from the mess that was the spots roughly 5-12, now they are very much in the thick of it.

The positives from the game at Houston:
- Early pressure (first 45)
- Possession oriented (first 45 and parts of the second half)
- Finding Espindola in space
- Trying to use width to help continue possession (first 45)

The negatives from the game at Houston:
- Horrible start and finish to the second half
- Lack of pressure on Brad Davis in the second half around the box
- Long balls to nobody to end the game - desperation
- Paulo Junior looked completely lost
- Robbie Russel's defending
- Giving away WAY too many set pieces, especially corners
- Lack of focus to end the game

In all, the negative list not only is longer than the positive list, but it was much more daming. On the road, you have to play a solid full game, or at least very close to. RSL played about 70 minutes, being generous, of good soccer. They were punished, however, for their 20 or so minutes in which they simply looked awful. That is how this game works, especially on the road. We make those same mistakes at the RioT and we might not be as badly punished. When you are at other people's home stadiums, though, you have to be sharp for at least 80 minutes.

Man of the Match: Brad DavisIt was very obvious that Houston had watched our film against the Crew just a few weeks back in which Robbie Rogers torched us down the left flank (our right). The Dynamo's go to guy couldn't have been in a better position to beat us. He constantly was a threat during the run of play and then, to make matters worse, was even more dangerous on set pieces. The guy has a hell of a left foot and should be making his way into talks for MVP this year. His play has been simply phenomenal.

Wanker of the Match: Robbie RussellLots of players - and coaches - for RSL are deserving of this reward. Russell drew the unlucky straw of having to mark Brad Davis and, especially in the second half, failed. His failure to make a tackle led to the first goal and his man was the guy who got open to head in the second. Also, the attack that ended up with their third started down Russell's wing. Not a great night, but he shouldn't feel too bad. Rimando and Kreis were also very serious candidates for this lovely award.


Wrapping up the Road Trip:
RSL heads to Chivas this coming Saturday on their final stop of this 3 game road swing. It has been, to be perfectly honest, a gigantic failure thus far. RSL has been scored on 4 times in 2 games and only put the ball in the net 2 times themselves. Against possibly the worst team in the league they couldn't find the net. Then, against a mid level team that is now a challenger for a playoff spot, they couldn't hold on to a lead despite gaining it two times. Things don't look very good for RSL. Chivas USA is starting to figure things out and will be hard to beat no matter the circumstances. Fraser would love nothing more, I'm sure, than to beat his former team. This road swing could see RSL go 0 for 9 on points. Something that would surely kill any momentum they had started to gain previously.

FORZA REAL

Cheers,

15 to 32