RSL vs. Philadelphia Union: Two things and a knee-jerk reaction

Right into it, then.

The goals will come.

I get it, I’m probably a bit more of the upside than the pessimistic type. It’s how I live my life, tends to affect how I view the team. That said, we all know things in front of the net have been pathetic for the past 10 games or so. We’ll look back at that and really wish that we had found some scoring form during this run. Despite that, we’ve put ourselves in really good positions to score in a good portion of those games.

We saw tonight that consistently getting into those positions will eventually lead to goals. But something was different tonight. Something changed in the attitude of the players, it seemed. I’ll use Joao as an example. When was the last time you remember him being that dangerous for an entire match? When was the last time he went at defenders consistently in a match? He was different tonight, and it made a huge difference.

I owe Olmes an apology.

I’ve probably been unnecessarily harsh when it comes to Olmes. It’s hard for me to remember how young he is and the situation that he has been thrust into. With Dev, Jordan, and the starting three up top he wasn’t getting enough real game min to be as effective as he could be or can be.

He’s played a bit more over the past month and I think we are seeing the fruits from that. He has the potential to be a really incredibly dynamic player up front, but the best way to get to that place where he is that player is by playing meaningful minutes in real matches. I have to hope that Dev going out on loan and the congested schedule gets him more minutes more consistently. Tonight showed that he deserves it.

This may have been our best game all year.

Might just have been. If you look even just at individual performances there were players who put in their best shift this season for the club. Olmes, Jamison, and maybe even Javier Morales were sharp all night. Joao may also have had his best 90 min this year looking somewhat a man possessed with the ball at his feet.

There were moments that were messy, but that’s bound to happen no matter the game. The point is that for 90-plus minutes the guys put it together where we haven’t been able to for the past few games.

Solid in the attack — dynamic, aggressive, good possession at the right times.

Smart on defense — the penalty call was questionable at best and the Olave-Maund pairing really put in some work.

Creative in the midfield — there’s something to be said about the role that Luke has fallen into; he’s making himself at home and doing a damn fine job of it.

We need more. No question. This CANNOT be a one-game thing if RSL are to get on any sort of roll with the playoffs fast approaching. There’s so much talk about the potential of this squad and it really truly is time that we see it more consistently. Here’s hoping.