RSL opens 2023 with a comeback victory
Kreilach, Glad score the goals in a 2-1 win against Vancouver
You know what’s weird?
No team came away from the 2023 season opener with a draw. Not yet, at least — Portland Timbers play tonight and could well change that with our old friends in Kansas City, but you get the point. If you wanted an advertisement for MLS, this was it.
Let’s talk about the game. I’ll go a little looser than with our typical coverage, because I think you probably want something unique from this newsletter, and not just a repetition.
So, hey, a new logo appears! I hope you like it. I do. (I know, I still need to update the wordmark. Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know.)
Only six of the 137 teams in MLS went without a goal during this opening weekend. If you told me MLS was rigged, I’d probably at least stop and consider the possibility. (Maybe the results are preplanned, but the athletic feats are real. Either way — MLS is still real to me.)
I thought the Apple TV feed worked pretty well, although we all heard weird electronic noises throughout, right? It wasn’t just me? (I’m pretty sure it wasn’t just me.) I’m going to blame snow or rain for that one.
It’s sure nice to see Damir Kreilach scoring again, isn’t it? That guy just has a knack for the best goals. This was a particularly clean finish, and it was harder than he made it look.
I noticed we kept trying this run on set pieces with a center back at the far post. I don’t know why Vancouver didn’t — but it led to Justen Glad’s RSL equalizer, so I’m not complaining. It’s definitely a scoutable thing, so RSL will need set piece variety, but I won’t complain about some good results in the opening week.
I’m still a bit worried about what Andrew Brody’s substitution could mean for the team. Concussions are tricky things, and we should be cautious with any player with concussion concerns. Is Bode Hidalgo ready for starting minutes? I wasn’t sure Andrew Brody was when he started getting them out of necessity, and full back is a particularly important position with the way we want to play the game.
More evidence of RSL focusing heavily in wide areas comes from Pablo Mastroeni: “The execution in the first half wasn’t good enough, but I think in the second half we created some great opportunities that always start in the wide areas for us.” Yeah, that aligns exactly with everything we’ve seen from him in his RSL tenure.
Another classic Mastroeni bit from his post-game press conference, when describing the first half of the game: “When you’re nervous or you have a little bit of doubt, and you pass the ball, it’s like passing on the doubt to the next guy.”
Alright — we’ll catch you all on Wasatch Soccer Sentinel or back here this time next week. It’s another 8:30 p.m. kickoff in Mountain time, with the team heading to Seattle on Saturday. Seattle just came off a huge 4-0 victory over Colorado Rapids, so, you know. Should be interesting.