Football Champions

“We have to look at our group and feel very, very good about what they put into that game,” said RSL coach Jason Kreis.

Or not. I’d like to take some comfort in the fact that RSL played to the end and hung tough against two of the best sides in the MLS, but there have been too many ‘moral victories’ already this year. “We’re playing better” and “We’ve made such an improvement” were thrown at us so often this season that they’ve lost their punch. Now that we actually are playing better (and even stand to pick up six points over the next week, moving us further ahead of the Galaxy and TFC) it’s hard to feel good about a pair of losses.

At least now, there can’t be much more false hope of a miraculous finale which ends in a playoff berth. RSL and its fans can resign themselves to playing for next year, and there is something to play for there. We’ve got a great looking cast of youngsters and a raft of draft picks for next year. The next seven games should allow us plenty of time to evaluate current players, build some cohesion, and maybe even set a tone for next year.