This entry was posted on 5/29/2007 11:55 AM and is filed under uncategorized.
The Chicago-RSL match was a yawner. Neither side deserved to win, and neither did. Nicky Rimando yet again stepped up and saved RSL. Our defense was ok, Stewart looked much better playing on the inside than outside. Kipre and Forko played relatively well. Our problem seems to be in midfield. Lancos did what he was supposed to, he's not Talley, but I think with his age, he can grow into that role and in the meantime, he still plays an ok match. Klein looked ok, even though he did manage to shank at least one over the bar. Maybe he needs to go play in the NFL where he would be a great place kicker. Regardless, his possession play was pretty good. Ballouchy had his best match yet, which isn't saying much. I finally started to look at what he's doing with a slowed down TIVO and it was amazing what I noticed. In watching his technique, he doesn't lock his ankle and drive the ball with his instep. Instead he side foots it like a pass, which is why he has so many that just seem to slowly trickle to the keeper. Not Freddy I thought played the best out of our midfield, but even then, not saying much. I'm not sure what Kreis has against him, but why has he subbed Adu out in the last two matches and not Ballouchy who has been playing just as poorly. I think it would be a fruitful thing to let Freddy play in the middle for a match, sit Ballouchy and see what happens.
Now for the forwards. Atiba seemed ok, did what he usually does, played physical, and couldn't trap a ball to save his life. His first touch has improved, but it's still a major liability in his play. If you look at the best big guys in the world, Jan Koller and Peter Crouch, not only can they play the ball with their heads, but they are extremely dangerous with their feet. Atiba is not dangerous with his feet, I would say his most dangerous thing is his elbows, which just seem to be able to find people about head level. Esky looked ok, I can't wait to see what happens when he gets some quality service. I've seen what he can do when he gets on the end of a cross coming from the right side of the box to where he plays on the left. I am not sure he's going to get that with the current team RSL fields, which means he's pretty much wasted here.
Our midfield is a mess and I don't see what's happening to fix it. What I would hope is that we bring in Williams for Ballouchy and let Freddy play free in the middle. Right now, Mehdi isn't making anything more than a safe 5 yard pass and that is not going to cut it for a CAM.
Now to get off the RSL subjects right now, I'm so tired of even discussing them anymore. Czech League!!!
Sparta are the 2006-2007 season champions, securing their spot at the top of the table with an impressive 5-0 win over SAID Most in front of over 19,000 fans at Letna Stadium yesterday. On Wednesday, Sparta also secured the CMFS Cup (Czech Cup) with a win over Jablonec t secure the double. Sparta will now play in Champion's League next year, entering in the 3rd qualifying round. In other matches yesterday, Liberec, who were in 2nd and who were playing for a chance to qualify for Europe next year melted down in the last half hour against 4th place Mlada Boleslav, giving up 4 goals. Up until that point, Liberec had the best defense in the league. With their loss, not only did Liberec not Qualify for Champion's League, they also lost a spot in the UEFA Cup for next year. So the two Czech teams in Champion's League are Sparta and Slavia (dirty wankers) with Slavia entering in the 2nd qualifying round. Mlada Boleslav qualifies for the UEFA Cup along with Jablonec by virtue of being the finalists in the Czech cup. Liberec will play in the Intertoto Cup this summer to try to qualify for the UEFA Cup as well as up to two more teams, most likely Brno and Plzen.
So now starts the off season transfer talk. So far, all I now is Fiorentina bought a guy from Hradec Kralove, Jan Hrabel, for 40 million Czech Crowns (about $2 million) and one other Czech player, Ondrej Mazuch from Brno for 80 million Crowns.
