The Knee Jerk: RSL vs Seattle (what we learned)

In the spirit of rebirth I’ve decided to rebrand to a sleeker, hipper name. Like the kids say: “I’m a cool cat, home slice” (that’s what they say these days, right? Just branding myself as a cool cat makes it true, I think). I wear my sun glasses at night and all that. Also, it’s the name of the articles, not my name.

We’re fun to watch. Late heroics to avoid losses are a blast; however, we need to start snagging three points from these things—especially at home—or else we’re going to stagnate and wind up as one of those teams with only a few losses but no solid points to show for it.

Scoring

Our goals are coming from everyone! RSL historically has been at their very best when the goals are spread among the players and not just focused on one or two. It’s that “team is the star” mantra that we all hope will be able to permeate back into the club at all levels. It makes our attack unpredictable. Who’s the most dangerous? They all are.

That doesn’t mean we don’t need our forwards to start pulling some scoring weight, though. If they could bulk up their scoring numbers, we’d be in a sweet place.

How about that Ruíz cannon?

Field control

I’m really starting to feel that when Rusnák is firing well and linking up quickly with the team, RSL follows. When Rusnák is stagnant, RSL looks stagnant. When he steps up, it looks amazing. When he’s flat, it’s all disjointed. We need him at his best as much as possible.

Here’s hoping a new ownership group takes the time and spends some money on worthwhile additions to the team that really allow our solid guys to thrive in their roles, who compliment the play style, who push the envelope of where this team can go. A couple of pieces could make a distinct difference to our on-field product. It’ll be a next season thing. For now we need the team to keep entertaining. We seem to do well when faced with adversity, and it’s been, well, adverse.

Please be courteous and wear your masks.

Overreactions

I’ve said it before, but when he’s done, Kyle Beckerman needs to transition directly into the coaching staff. There’s still no doubt he’s this team’s leader.

Putna is a decent keeper, but I’m starting to feel that he’s the type of keeper that we can expect to make a couple of potentially game-destroying errors every match and need to bailed out by the team or luck.

Remember when we’d give up a PK and it just wasn’t as stressful as it should have been because Rimando?

Dunny said hard apple cider for me on TV!