Well what to say about that stinker of a match last night? If you follow my Twitter stream (@BrandonLBC) you've already seen most of what I have to say. Some of it was useful, factual criticism and some of it was just the ramblings of a stark, raving mad supporter.
Call me a nay-sayer, but I tweeted after RSL bought this match that it would sure be embarrassing if they lost. Not only did they lose, but they got outplayed by a lower division side that was every bit the better club last night. In the end, it was rather like paying somebody to come to your house and beat the crap out of you.
Minnesota Stars FC took the lead in the 4th minute after an impressive set piece goal. Kyle Reynish did a decent job of punching the ball away, but the defense engaged in a fair bit of ball watching instead of clearing. Luis Gil managed to equalize in the 29th minute after a quickly taken RSL set piece, but Minnestoa took the lead again right before halftime, scoring a PK after a Jamison Olave handball in the box. Stars FC iced the match in the 58th minute to make full time score 3-1.
Now for some thoughts. I don't believe this match was Kyle Reynish's fault. He was really shaky in places to be sure, but the first two Minnesota goals happened right in front of me, and neither were his fault. He punched away the free kick that lead to the first goal, and it's incumbent upon his defense to clear the lines. I don't think he could have caught the ball the cleanly. The penalty kick was obviously on Olave, not Reynish. The third goal happened at the other end of the ground, so I'm not sure, but at that point RSL was already in the tank as far as I was concerned.
I would argue that most of the RSL players took the night off, and I'm talking about the guys on the pitch, not the ones on the bench or away with national team duty. I'd say that Luis Gil, Ned Grabavoy, and Kyle Reynish put forth the required effort, though Reynish was obviously low on confidence. I'd venture a guess that most of the rest of the guys either horribly underestimated Minnesota (the reigning NASL champs) or just totally mailed it in. Both Borchers and Olave had multiple headed chances on goal in the second half, none of them near the target. Paulo Jr had a couple really good looks, again not on frame. Meanwhile Minnesota was allowed to easily take advantage of almost every opportunity they had.
Here's my thing: I can handle it when my club loses. What makes me very angry as a supporter is when they don't bother to show up and turn in an ugly performance like that. The RSL front office put out money for this and issued a call for the fans to show up. 17,000 plus fans did exactly that on a Tuesday night, on only six days notice. It was a record for the tournament at this stage. My guess is a lot of those folks won't be coming back. They may have been casual fans, but their dollars are worth the same to the club as the supporters money, especially when they're out trying to buy matches.
Let me say this in closing though, I still believe in my team and in Jason Kreis. Kreis was quoted after the match last night as saying that it wasn't going to be a good time to be a player under him, and I'm sure he is not understating that. My guess is that practice and training over the next couple of weeks is going to be pretty miserable for those guys that played last night. I have every confidence that he's already addressing the myriad of issues that RSL were faced with last night and moving to fix them.
In the end, props to Minnesota Stars FC, who were the better team last night. They turned in a class performance and I'll be pulling for them to win the Cup!
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