Three winners, three losers from RSL’s 2-1 loss to Seattle Sounders

Winner: Andrew Putna

Our goalkeeper made a few good saves, and that was nice. He also made one very good save. So that’s extra nice. Yeah, he gave up two goals, but the defending was wildly ineffective in those instances, which has become a real theme.

Winner: Pablo Ruiz

Pablo Ruiz remains 100% absolutely the truth. If you’d told me that would be the case a year ago, I would have been very confused. I knew he was doing well in Austria, but it’s very different from MLS.

Well, he’s here, even if it wasn’t always the plan. He’s been extremely good. He has not just won a starting spot, but marked his name on the team sheet in pen. Pen!

Loser: Jeizon Ramirez

He’s not in this column because of anything he did. He’s here because despite RSL needing rotation, and despite RSL needing creativity, and despite him needing minutes, Jeizon Ramirez remains a fixture on the bench. He got five-ish minutes on the pitch.

Again, he’s not here because of anything he did. He’s here because for some reason, he’s not getting minutes.

Loser: Sam Johnson

In his first start in over a month, Johnson was a miss. He wasn’t involved in play frequently, he struggled to complete passes, and he never looked dangerous. Defensively, his extremely bad marking led to Seattle’s second goal. It’s hard to see him starting againin 2020, but stranger things have happened.

Winner: Justin Portillo

I knew Portillo was a safe player in the midfield, but I had forgotten how safe. He’s a bit of a clone of 2013 Kyle Beckerman at times, with some good tackling and a great passing rate — 96%! I didn’t expect much of him, and he surpassed that quite well.

It makes me wonder how he’s been sat on the bench so long. I dunno.

Loser: Corey Baird

I don’t know what I expected, but Corey Baird without a creative player around him is, well, not great. He wasn’t all over the place, but he also wasn’t really anywhere of note.

Anyway, yeah. Baird. Not great.