RSL vs. LA Galaxy, 2017 preseason: What we learned from RSL’s 0-1 loss to LA

Some positives.

Our attacking depth doesn’t look bad and I’m excited to see what carries into the future with the development of these players. This match wasn’t the most rip-roaring exciting time, but those depth guys are looking better each match.

Jordan Allen and Joao Plata are looking great in those wide roles. They’re both playing incredibly well and the energy they bring to the team is infectious. There’s real potential for terrific plays and exciting goals. Allen and Beltran also linked up quite well down that right side on attack. That was nice to see.

Negative? I’ll try to be brief.

I’m uncertain about how our defense is going to shape up. Plain and simple. Something is missing back there, but it’s preseason. They’re still giving trials to Dunk and Schmidt. But they’re not the only ones who look off. Is Glad’s return our answer? I truly hope not. He’s still young and he’s still going to make mistakes. Mistakes are good for him, but we need someone solid and experienced back there to make up for them. That back line really feels like our weak point. Maybe we can just score tons of goals. Hopefully we won’t need to make up for the defense, though. Score tons of goals and have tons of clean sheets. I’m not seeing that, yet.

What now?

Now I remind myself, again, that it’s preseason. It’s still preseason. We’ve got until March 4th until everyone starts playing like it really matters. Preseason never looks good and no team ever looks tip top in preseason. There aren’t 100% efforts and no one wants to get injured in a friendly match. So, yeah. Preseason.

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We need our captain. It’s obvious on the field that Beckerman is missing in more than just his soccer skills. That leadership quality that he brings is absent. There’s an organizational deficit. I wonder who will captain this ship when he retires. Who’s going to step up?