Once again RSL finds its season drawing to a close without any substantive hope of post-season play. It’s about the time players and coaches start to drag out the “we’re still playing for PRIDE.” In truth, this is just another way of saying that we have nothing left to play for, but unfortunately still have games to be played. On some level, it’s of course true…the players are playing to show they were good enough to win all year, and of course because showing up to lose REALLY sucks. With little match incentive to play for, it’s hard to not want to dust off the “gipper” speech to keep players motivated and the fans coming to the stadium. Not that the sentiment that you should want to win is at all out of whack, though obviously a little unusual for RSL, but the beginning of the season might be a better time to set the tone for this sentiment, rather than waiting until you are virtually eliminated from the playoffs.
Conveniently, RSL plays Colorado next. If there was ever a moment to make a point about this rivalry, Saturday’s match would be a great time to get the win at home. Though the rivalry may suffer from the absence of Pablo (Richard) Mastroeni, it’s rarely difficult to find players to dislike on the Crapids. On top of this, Colorado generally travels well to Utah, and rumor had it they had planned a large roadtrip for this game. The atmosphere will be right for an emotional game. The game will have especial relevance to Beckerman and Wingert, which will likely lend some edge to the game. RSL will be without Eskandarian, who picked up his 5th yellow card against LA, however they will see the return of Espindola and Mantilla who served their suspensions during the LA game. Colorado will be without Pablo and Erpen, as Erpen picked up a red card against Chivas on the 16th, and “richard” will be serving his suspension for 5 yellows.
An interesting question will be whether Kreis will continue to play his 4-5-1 against Colorado, presumably with Espindola and Findley outside and Movsisyan posted up top, or whether he will revert back to the 4-3-3, playing Brown as a drop right wing with Espindola and Sisy up top. Without Sturgis in the lineup, Kreis’ 4-3-3 was limited by Brown’s ability to substantively contribute in the midfield. But it is clear that Kreis had enjoyed having the option to put in an effective striker late in the game as a change of pace and style to exploit a tired defense. Without Esky, Kreis will be without that option playing a 4-5-1…unless you consider Brown a “change of style and pace” (I guess technically that’s true, it’s just not typically a positive change…though he does manage to get opportunities).
Colorado, for all their woes, have continued to build this season. Kirovsky continues to be dangerous, Cooke is a talented winger, Conor Casey, though not the battering ram they thought he would be, has improved his form steadily over the season and occasionally shown signs of the player he could be. Ihemelu continues to show strong defense, and Bouna Coundoul has had something of a miraculous season in light of his play last year, continually coming up with big saves for Colorado.
RSL meanwhile have looked better, if not more effective. The midfield play id decidedly more creative now than earlier in the season and they have shown better decision making going at goal. The Ballouchy-Beckerman matchup stands to be entertaining. Look for RSL to exploit Medhi’s poor marking through the middle. It could turn out to be a breakout game for Morales, whose rifle from a dead ball against LA finally put him on the board for RSL. I expect this to be an outstanding game, the crowd ought to be in rare form for this emotional match.
-Heretic
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