Thursday, December 05, 2013

Clashing Styles?







1 comment:

Nathan Martin said...

At home, RSL and SKC are 1st and 2nd in passes.

On road, RSL and SKC are 1st and 7th in passes.

The "passes before shots" chart counted all games.

Further, one must reconcile it with another article that shows SKC win the ball 9 yards higher up the field at home vs RSL on the road: that's the difference between passing it to the wings to then target the center forward and directly passing it to the wings/center forward for a shot.

It seems that even the smartest pundits have a muddied view of SKC based on the defensive tactics away from home. Olum, Peterson, Bunbury, etc... are a "1-0" lineup that plays to its strengths while at home Feilhaber, Sapong, Dwyer are a "2-X" lineup.

Based on this entirely imagined view of SKC at home and a nostalgic, non-factual view of RSL playing the same on the road as they do at home (hint: they foul more, possess less, score less, allow more goals, etc...), far too many are picking RSL.

Which is fine with me, it'll be all the more "stunning" and satisfactory when SKC outpass, outpossess, & generate more good chances through the run of play while RSL outfoul and rely on set pieces for chances.

SKC should win this game. They may not. We can be sure that they'll play good ball.