Monday Roundup: Jordan Allen takes over, tactical questions flood in

We couldn't stop talking about forward, right back, and midfielder Jordan Allen last week, as evidences by our series of pieces about him. First, we broke down his goal, then we moved straight to predicting a start, got excited about said start, and, of course, we couldn't leave without evaluating it.

But he's not the only player we've had our eye on leading up to this match. We wondered if Luis Gil is the missing link for our tactical approach, and given last night, maybe it's the case. We also wondered if he's the right player for the 4-3-3.

Of course, a roundup wouldn't be complete without a discussion of Javier Morales, who was excellent. He scored one of the greatest volleys we've seen this year and we named him our man of the match. We promise it's not just for that goal. Still, if it was, you wouldn't blame us, right?

The worst thing to come from this week? News of Sebastian Jaime's tibia fracture, which doesn't make us smile at all, even if it has made things tactically more interesting. After all, that Allen and Gil talk didn't come from nowhere.

One exciting thing to come from this week not related to San Jose: A 5-4 win for RSL-AZ's U-16s against Athletic Bilbao after being down 3-0 and 4-1. Wow.

As always, if you're trying to keep up with everything around a match, check out the story stream. It's usually pinned to the front page. Check out the San Jose story stream if you're trying to get the full story on the match.

So — what do we have to look forward to this week?

Real Monarchs play their first two home matches: First up is Portland Timbers 2 on Wednesday, then Colorado Springs Switchbacks on Saturday. Real Salt Lake takes on Sporting KC on Saturday, too, but that one's on the road.

Joao Plata still isn't back yet, but expect him to feature for Real Monarchs before he does for Real Salt Lake this season. Injuries otherwise are easing, although Jaime's absence is still something we have to think about. Demar Phillips is something around 90 percent, too, so don't expect him to be out much longer, too.