Playoffs: Round 2-Western Conf. Final : NY @ RSL: Frustration From Defeat

Cue the fat lady. RSL's 2008 season is over. Looked at in the big picture, this season was a massive success, with the team making it farther than I think anyone really expected. However, on the day after, it is tough to swallow. Especially when RSL proved they were the better team and yet had nothing to show for it.

Really, this game boiled down to the fact that our strikers (especially the starters) are not that good. Yes, Yura has scored some HUGE goals as of late, but he still misses way too many easy ones (he also needs to get a new move, the bulls seemed to have figured out his little hesitation stepover thing). Mathis was largely useless and missed an absolute sitter. Late in the game he was hounding the refs as he couldn't get a call and I found myself saying out loud, "Clint, shut up. You missed an easy one that would've tied this game. Yes, the ref may have missed some calls, but you've got to take care of business on your end too." After 3 hit posts, 3 or 4 open net sitters that were shanked (Olave is up for World Shank of the Year after his effort. There's a reason he's a defender.), and numerous other wasted opportunities (when will this team learn to crash the box?) it was an incredibly frustrating evening. And that was just for the fans. I can only imagine how it was in the locker room afterwards. Overall, it was a game the RSL could have and should have won. But they didn't put their (8,000) chances away and the energy bovines put their 1 away. It happens. Unfortunately, it happened in the biggest game of the year. On the plus side, I don't see any situation where the bulls are not absolutely flattened by Columbus. And it will be sweet!

Pros:
-RSL outplayed NYC in basically every facet of the match.
-A true sellout crowd. Not only that, it was loud and boisterous, as it should be. Even the non-supporters sections were standing for the final 15.
-The fact that RSL even made it this far.
-Chris Wingert coming over to the fans after the game to show his appreciation. Unfortunately, he had swapped jerseys with Mendes and 3/4 of the crowd thought he was with NYC. The insults and middle fingers were flying as Chris tried to plead his case. Priceless comedy.

Cons:
-RSL didn't outplay NYC in the one place it counts: the scoreboard.
-That NY gets the Western Conference trophy even though they are in the Eastern Conference. That is messed up. In this case, the trophy should go to the runner-up (RSL) or, my preference, to the regular season conference champ (Houston).
-It was friggin' freezing Mr. Bigglesworth.
-The fact that with such a big crowd, many I'm sure at their first game, RSL couldn't put together a better scoring night.

Grades:
Nick Rimando-8 Very composed in the net. Nice game.
Robbie Russell-3 Horrendous. Contributed to the NY goal, killed our attacks all night.
Nat Borchers-7 Very solid.
Jamison Olave-5 Point(s) off for the terrible missed tackle that set NY's goal in motion.
(Andy Williams 72)-6 Did OK off the bench, would've liked to see him out there MUCH sooner.
Chris Wingert-6 Average game for Chris.
Kyle Beckerman-4 Terrible. Completed maybe 1 pass all game. He has really regressed the past month or so.
Dema Kovalenko-6 Active out there.
(Robbie Findley 59)-6 Tons of effort.
Javier Morales-6 A little too lax at times, but decent.
Will Johnson-5 Had his moments but missed a couple great opportunities.
Clint Mathis-4 Totally useless.
(Kenny Deuchar 91+)-6 Really too late to grade, but made a presence in his short stint.
Yura Movsisyan-5 A little too much diving, a bit lacking results wise.

Coaching (Kreis)-4 Offensive subs needed to come much earlier. It took the whole north and west ends chanting "Andy! Andy!" for 15 min. before he got Williams in the game. Deuchar sub was too little too late. Mathis should not have been in the game 90+ minutes. At the beginning of the 2nd half the team seemed to lack fire and focus.
Ref grade (Jair Marrufo)-5 Let the "beautiful game" turn a bit too much into the "sweet science". Nothing egregious, but he let a bit too much slide.

RSL Man of the Match: Nick Rimando
With the lack of any standouts, "Big Nicky" wins for his steady night in goal.

Assclown of the Match: All the NY players who were suddenly massively injured late in the game, rolled on the ground for 5 minutes, and then got up and walked off the field with no problem.
Seriously, this shit needs to stop. This is worse than the basketball "we're down 25 points with 2 minutes left and can't win, but let's foul every time the other team touches the ball". If you can't win without basically cheating then you don't deserve to win at all. Play some ball and earn your win, don't cry your way to victory. disgraceful.

And now, some pictures from last night, courtesy of El Spam (click on them to view them full size):
Heading in to "The River"

Pregame warmups (from my crappy camera phone)

Leo warms up the crowd with the help of explosions

Ready to kickoff

What passes for a halftime show in Utah (Mt. Crest HS marching band)

Setting up for a corner

Javi gets ready to take a corner



As always, thanks for stopping by. As soon as I get some time, I will have a post-season wrap-up with full player grades and the 2008 Knighthood Ceremony (aka the Royal Awards). And, as always, go RSL (or as some like to say it: Come on ya Reds!)!