By Ambrosia Tonkovich // @heyambrosia
Well hello there, it’s been a while. Life and all that fun stuff.
Let’s just jump right into this fire we’re fighting, shall we?
Mike Petke in his latest post-game interview has summed up the anger pretty well:
“I know what the problem is and it’s going to be fixed one way or another.” pic.twitter.com/UdIQGq2VI0
— Real Salt Lake (@RealSaltLake) March 31, 2018
…yep.
Petke is now in his first full year as coach. After taking over the team last year when Cassar was let go, we all knew that come around July, we would start seeing more improvements in the team, whether it was communication, play style, or formation changes. So this year I’m pretty hopeful. Our team has now had offseason and preseason, all under Petke’s direction. In addition to that, we have signed A LOT of new players, and let a few go as well. So how have we been doing this year?
Well… not very good. Since I’m a little late in the writing season, I’m going to do a bit of overall coverage for the past few games with some stats.
We have had a total of four goals this year (five if you count our own goal), two of them scored by Joao Plata in the first two games. Kudos to Plata for stepping it up after Petke and he seemed to have some disagreements last year in regard to Plata’s commitment level. He has made me proud this year. One goal has been scored by Albert Rusnak (and what a pretty PK it was, that slow sneak into the goal was satisfying to watch) and Corey Baird scored his first MLS goal in the game against Toronto FC on Friday!
Nick Rimando. Can we just take a second? I am still so glad he’s here with us. His stats are impressive.
Catching up from last night:
Nick Rimando of @RealSaltLake saved his 23rd penalty kick in #MLS league play, of 83 he’s faced. That is nearly twice as many as the next total in league history (Kevin Hartman, 12).
It was the 2nd year in a row he’s saved from Sebastian Giovinco
— Rick Lawes (@ricklawes) March 31, 2018
The number of goals we would have had scored on us even just this year if we didn’t have him… it’s scary to think about. We allowed 8 shots on goal just this last Friday against Toronto, let alone all of the other games that could have turned out MUCH worse had he not been in the box.
The good news – we’re doing better than last year. We had five straight winless games in a row last year, and I’m sending thoughts and prayers that we don’t repeat that again. I hope that Petke’s push to change the team’s mentality after the last loss (3-1, Toronto) is going to be beneficial.
Losing to a new MLS team at home 5-1 (LAFC) is devastating enough, so we need to pull back, and pull back hard. We’ve had one win and one tie. And two devastating losses that I really hate to think about.
My takeaways from the team right now – we have poor communication and shaky teamwork. We are unsure of ourselves. Justen Glad is a damn fine defender, and I can’t wait to continue to see him grow and succeed. I will be there in the rain for the game this coming Saturday, cheering as loud as always, because I do love and believe in my team, no matter what the hardships are. I recognize we haven’t done well, but I do look forward to the rest of the season, and still bleed Claret and Cobalt.
Featured image courtesy: @RealSaltLake
Follow and chat with me on Twitter // @heyambrosia
Check us out on Instagram @mlsfemale
