The Western Conference title was the highlight of RSL's season (USA Today)
So.....it's been a mighty tough week to be an RSL fan. The disappointment of the MLS Cup Final needs no further description. That's followed up by losing Jason Kreis midweek, and then on Friday finding out that the Portland Timbers would be taking the last spot in the 2013 Concacaf Champions League as opposed to RSL. It's tempting to look back on everything that's happened this year and be pretty disappointed, and I can't blame those who might take more of a "glass half empty approach."
However, what happens when we look at the entire body of work in the 2013 season and match it up with preseason expectation? I could rehash all the events of the last offseason and recount expectations going into 2013, but that ground has been well worn. Suffice it to say, I picked them 4th prior to the season, so my expectations were exceeded in that regard.
When you put the actual results of the 2013 season alongside the preseason expectations, I think the season can definitely be judged as a success. When we look back, we see that RSL sat atop both the Western Conference and MLS wide table for a significant portion of the season and for the most part they were remarkably consistent. How many games did Beckerman, Rimando, Saborio, and Beltran miss with international duty? Stack those alongside with a significant injury to Chris Schuler, who was stepping into the role of Jamison Olave, and more injury issues for Sabo, who always seemed to get broken when he went to play for Costa Rica. Also, both Kwame-Watson Siriboe and Josh Saunders suffered season ending injuries in this time, forcing untried backups into action. Despite all of this, the Claret and Cobalt hung in there all season, and though they did slip from the Supporter's Shield race at the end, they never really fell into the slog at the bottom of the Western Conference playoff picture with LA, Seattle, Colorado, and San Jose.
Individually, several players had remarkable seasons as well. I think we have to start with Nick Rimando here. He kept RSL in a lot of matches this season, especially early on. He was also a beast for the USMNT in the Gold Cup and for RSL during the playoff run. I really have a major issue with him losing out on the Goalkeeper of the Year award. Outside of Rimando, check out Nasty Ned Grabavoy. Earlier in the season Kreis had challenged Ned to step up and be more of a leader on the club. He did just that. He continued his stellar work rate all over the pitch, and in my mind some of RSL's best moments of the year offensively came when he was more involved. especially on secondary runs from the midfield.
Two other men really emerged in the playoffs, and RSL fans should be hoping that these guys carry that form into next season. First off I'm speaking of Robbie Findley. Robbie took a lot of flack throughout the regular season, some of it deserved. He seemed to be the favorite whipping boy for RSL fans on the post game shows. However in the playoffs he came to life again and showed us the dangerous offensive weapon he really can be. Now we just need him to add consistency, in my estimation. I also want to prop up Chris Schuler, who I was touting on twitter as the most important piece for RSL during the playoffs. His return was HUGE for the Claret and Cobalt. Not only did he team up again with Nat Borchers to help solidify our defense in front of Rimando, but he became an offensive threat on set pieces as well, and this is something I think we need more of from our big guys at the back. Hopefully he can continue to be that presence next season.
Now I'm also a "results matter" and "trophies matter" kind of individual. To play in two cup finals in a season is excellent. To win neither of them borders on unacceptable. I have to level this criticism again here and it remains valid. When the big prize is on the line, something just seems to be lacking with this group. There will almost always be one or two fatal errors, maybe the only errors that are made by the boys during the match. We saw both DC United and Sporting Kansas City exploit these errors and come away with trophies. Now I'm not going to castigate the team for falling just short in MLS Cup away to a very deserving Sporting Kansas City squad, but to me the loss of the US Open Cup final at home to a DC United squad that was criminally horrible all season is a low point not only of this season, but in recent RSL history
So in the final analysis, yes the season was a success, but I think we should definitely look back on it with some disappointment. It was good, but it could have been great. It was a chance to put down once of the best seasons in MLS history, but in the end we couldn't quite seize that moment. The important thing now is, what do we do with that disappointment? We'll have some new blood at the top next year, and some new faces on the pitch as well. I hope the club takes a healthy dose of "what could have been" from 2013 and uses it for motivation to get better, to develop that needed killer instinct. Hopefully the new coach will be able to facilitate that as well.
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