Sometimes, you have to shake your head at the things that inexplicably go wrong. When you’re in on goal and the goalkeeper makes a brilliant save, when the goalkeeper’s well out of goal but a defender heads it out of the way, when... Oh, wait. We won! That’s right, another win, bringing our form to an impressive four in a row after a toughly contested match against one of the best the East have to offer.
Was it surprising? Hardly. But with this being the potential fourth in a row, one which is going to be vital in our late season run-up, well, you just expected it to go all pear-shaped, didn’t you? I certainly was in that boat, which made for a tense (but exciting) night at the Rio Tinto.
There were, of course, some interesting tactical notes to come from the match, which I’ll more or less below.
• Chris Schuler, playing at left back, kept us pushed a bit further back and surrendered a bit of the possession game that Tony Beltran excels at. Still, he was quite impressive in headers and tackling, and he was very useful in the box, both as an attacker and as a defender. He was also effective chasing the ball down while we pushed forward, though we did have some worrying moments down his side in the first half. Late on, he tucked further inside, leaving us with three center backs and Will Johnson at left back in a 5-man defense, which was perhaps a risky move. Bunkering down is not when we are at our best, as we well know, but it worked for us tonight.
• Robbie Russell, for his part, looked effective and didn’t too often let his man get past him. He made some vital clearances and recoveries, and when it came time to chase and get in the way of crosses, he was there to narrow the options.
• Andy Williams looked credible in the midfield and served capably in the workhorse role that we’d typically see Ned Grabavoy start in. He didn’t help as much with possession as perhaps we’d have liked, but he shielded well and tackled with fire and a startling accuracy.
• Our defending throughout was was stalwart, and our tackling was largely as good as it’s been. There were a couple moments where our men deserved their yellows, but that refereeing was a bit suspect.
• Right, that refereeing. It was not the best we’ve seen, was it? It was the generally deplorable Ricardo Salazar, and while I do hate to groan too much about bad refereeing, there were certainly a few moments I’ll be reviewing tomorrow when I rewatch the match. Like, you know, when Jimmy Nielsen went down clutching his face. That was a bit odd, wasn’t it? I certainly didn’t see any contact that would have seen that as an appropriate reaction. You know, none.
• Next match: We’ll be without our captain, which doesn’t bode particularly well against a New York Red Bulls side looking for a playoff spot. Could we make it five in a row? Yes, absolutely. I’ll try to figure out who we might see there over the next few days, but the next one’s coming fast and furious.
• On that, a positive note: Kyle Beckerman’s ninth assist of the season — the one that sent Borchers’ header crashing into the back of the net — puts him in the top five in the league on the season. Good on him. I don’t think he’ll catch David Beckham, but, hey, stranger things have happened.
Complain about our play being overly negative if you like, but a win is a win. With Tony back for Wednesday, perhaps we’ll be able to play a more possession-oriented game (it certainly wouldn’t hurt our chances) — or perhaps we’ll see the induction of Yordany Alvarez into the system. It’s difficult to judge that right now, but the coming days will be
Tonight, we celebrate, and Wednesday, we’re right back to it. Up the RSL!
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