San Jose vs. RSL: Justen Glad, Man of the Match

Some will argue that a defender should not receive the Man of the Match award in a loss on the road. Maybe my vision is blurred due to the last few road outings conceding five or six goals, but this felt much less embarrassing. In many respects, RSL played well for spurts of the game. San Jose had some good looks at goal, no doubt. But not many of them came through Justen Glad.

Glad was able to counter most anything that was thrown at him giving him a chance to showcase his smarts (which we’re used to) and his speed. He is the leader of the back line, and at such a young age that is saying something. Consider also how much disarray RSL’s defense was in before he came back on the scene. It’s a small sample size, but RSL has only conceded two goals in two games since then. It’s not perfect, but it’s definitely better than what we had.

Glad is capable of singlehandedly preventing goals, and he did that against the Earthquakes.