RSL vs Orlando: What we learned

Another rather entertaining match where RSL looked really good during the first half, but fell apart around the 60th minute. Once again, there are a lot of really good elements to build upon. We saw some great play. It just isn’t lasting the full ninety. It so much like last week in Vancouver.

It’ll be interesting to see where RSL moves from here. Orlando is in excellent form right now and, let’s face it, they score a lot of goals late in games. It’s something we should have been prepared for; it’s also something we could have countered with some quality finishing. Instead, we squandered our chances and dropped three points.

Right now, we’re playing like a mid-table team. The powerhouses are taking us apart, but we’re finding positive results periodically. If we can start finishing our chances, we’re a much better team. Will it come?

Positives

We did a great job absorbing pressure through the first hour of the match. We turned that around and countered with some wonderful passes and connecting play. RSL looked like a team with a strategy that could get us three points.

The insightful passing through the midfield to create chances in counterattack put us in a great position and on a great foot. We had sixteen shots with nine on target. Those are good numbers.

Negatives

But compare that to Orlando’s nineteen shots with seven on target. Then look at the scoreline. Orlando finished. RSL didn’t. Until those balls start blasting the back of the net regularly, we’re at best a mid-table team.

If RSL can’t figure out how to finish, this season’s going to be a bust. More than that, if we can’t figure out how to score multiple goals, we’re not going anywhere. It takes goals to win. It takes multiple goals to be elite.

I spent the first half of last season harping on finishing again and again. That went away by the end of the season. But we’re back to it. It’s the single biggest issue with this team.

Overreactions

Shifty-eyed Dom Dwyer needs an evil villain handlebar mustache and a sinister hat.

Whoever was playing the saw in that commercial for the Utah Royals was rocking that thing.

I’m happy for Schuler, but I’m also surprised he didn’t have a season-ending injury tonight. Go figure.