Eight losers, two winners from RSL’s 2-0 loss to San Jose

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Well, that didn’t go as well as it maybe could have.

Loser: Marcelo Silva

Yeah, he hit the post. Good for him. But he let in the cross for the first goal, and he found himself with a completely justified yellow card very early in the match. That sort of thing leaves the whole team vulnerable, and it was his trademark Big Mistake™ for the game, hitting the usual mark.

Loser: Nedum Onuoha

Onuoha is not the first player to have completely lost Chris Wondolowski and have it lead to a goal, and he won’t be the last. But man, he sure lost Wondolowski on that second goal.

Loser: Donny Toia

Getting beat on a run that leads to a goal is never a good sign. Toia was a step behind play too often, and it led to RSL facing far too many opportunities for my liking.

Loser: Corey Baird

Corey Baird is a liability in a system where he is relied upon to defend. When he plays out wide, he has to defend. He cannot do it in anything approach an effective way. His runs are scattered, he doesn’t track players, and he loses the plot. Watch the second goal back. Play is being somehow contained, then he pushes himself out of position, an opening appears, and San Jose capitalizes.

Loser: Albert Rusnak

In his best opportunities tonight, Albert Rusnak hit the wall from a free kick in an extremely promising position, and he sent multiple shots right into a defender.

It’s a theme at this point, and it is a painful one.

Loser: Justen Glad

For some reason, Justen Glad has been dropped in favor of Marcelo Silva. Maybe that’s his fault, maybe it’s not. But it’s a real puzzle that he keeps getting dropped in the last few matches of the season.

Loser: Nick Besler

Four tackles attempted. One successful.

It’s not what you want to see on the stat sheet for your defensive midfielder.

Winner: Alvin Jones

Alvin Jones did not play, but after Aaron Herrera received a yellow card, it’s a near-certainty that Jones will be on the pitch for our next match.

That being said, who knows. Maybe we’ll see Corey Baird at right back or something.

Loser: Damir Kreilach

It’s not all his fault, but he was never really involved in play at striker. I know we can point at San Jose packing the box as a reason for that, but there is no reason we should have been surprised about that.

Winner: Andrew Putna

I guess the goals weren’t really his fault.