Real Salt Lake vs. Chicago Fire: Four losers, one winner

Winner: David Ochoa

Ochoa is a very good shot-stopper. No surprise here. Nice work from the kid.

Loser: Justen Glad

Glad got spun on the Chicago goal, and we know with absolute certainty that he can do better. He was not good enough in the moment, and it was a contributor to our dropping points.

Loser: Pablo Ruiz

Right down the spine, RSL was bad. Ruiz improved as the match went on, and he made a couple crucial tackles, but we needed much more than that. When Ruiz is good, RSL tends to be good. When Ruiz is mediocre — well, I really do think results live and die in the midfield.

A word about statistics: Don’t take his high number of tackles as a good thing. It’s one thing to have a couple good tackles, but 7 tackles through the match? That’s usually an indication that you’re in positions where you need to make tackles too often. The best tackle is the one you don’t make and all that.

Loser: Justin Meram

Meram was one of our first two substitutes, and he had little positive impact on the game. He replaced Maikel Chang, who was steady if a bit unspectacular, and it was a real downgrade.

Loser: Damir Kreilach

Kreilach struggled to get engaged in the match, dropping deep to see more of the ball. That left Rubio Rubin alone in a system that’s built with Kreilach playing forward, and it didn’t play to our advantage to have him dropping deeper.