RSL vs. Orlando: What we learned

It’s Friday night and the mood is right. Until we drop another early goal. Then the mood fails and we fall back into our inevitable cycle of frustrating flashes of brilliance punctuated by tiny details that keep us off the score sheet. Losing is frustrating, but at this point I’m pretty used to it. I can keep from terrifying the neighbors with irrational shouting through my open window. That cool summer breeze still feels nice.

But please, cool breeze, please be the herald for the winds of change. I’m not asking for the winds of change to be a tornado. I’m okay with the winds of change being a slow buildup so long as I know, that I get evidence, that change is on its way.

That first half was not bad. We started out dynamic and exciting! Again. There are a lot of good things happening on the field. Just no, you know, goals. The best things. The ones that win matches. Plata can showcase that beautiful touch all he wants, but those crosses need to have meaning. The quality service in the final third should continue, must continue, but more than that, it must improve. That final touch, the final run, the final connection among players. This is what I’m looking for on the breeze.

It was small things that kept this match out of our reach. Crosses and potential passes happened, they just didn’t happen in meaningful ways. They’re on the cusp of being key passes (passes that lead to shots), but the player chemistry just isn’t quite there. It’s what I am watching. Once those passes start falling in the right places, when players instinctively know where their teammates are going to slip those passes, that’s when we’ll start back on our path to winning. Oh. And clean sheets will help.