RSL Storylines: Learning from our mistakes and the key to strength in depth

Welcome back to storylines.

Another quick turnaround game means less time spent dwelling and ruminating on the mistakes of the past, and instead efforts are all dutifully focused on progress and advancement before immediate challenges await.

RSL quickly returns to midweek action on Wednesday at home at America First Field to visit Minnesota United on the Wasatch Front in what promises to be at least another exciting spectacle.

Pablo Mastroeni's charges reach Wednesday's game after a frustrating 2-2 draw against Austin FC in their last game, which saw the Claret-and-Cobalts take their fate into their own hands with goals from Matt Crooks and Diogo Gonçalves A late resistance from the hosts forced some of the spoils.

A quick turnaround competition and return to America First Field provides an opportunity to get back to winning ways and try to build winning momentum before the playoffs begin.

What lessons did we learn from Saturday's stalemate in Austin and how can the team use some of that positively to achieve an even more flattering result on Wednesday? We take a closer look at some of these, as well as other compelling narratives and information, in this latest installment of RSL pre-match storylines.

• We were wrong in our naivety: Saturday's standoff in Austin once again highlighted the team's defensive deficiencies from its previous game against Portland. Improvement remains a gradual process, and the first step is to learn from these mistakes and perfect the game management process.

• More rotations expected? Even before the playoffs begin, there will likely be competition for places, with the quality of the team being a key factor.

You can watch RSL vs Minnesota on Apple TV's MLS Season Pass here: https://tv.apple.com/

Or enjoy the euphoric America First Field experience by securing your tickets here https://rsl.com/tickets today

Kick-off is Wednesday, October 2nd at 7:30 p.m. MT.

• We were wrong in our naivety: Saturday's standoff in Austin once again highlighted the team's defensive deficiencies from its previous game against Portland. Improvement remains a gradual process, and the first step is to learn from these mistakes and perfect the game management process.

At the end of last weekend's draw against the head coach of the Portland Timbers Pablo Mastroeni made some concessions on his side in some areas where he sought improvements.

“…In the last two games we conceded three bad set pieces, so we have to evaluate that again and think in training what we can do better in these moments.” But here too it's about experiencing and understanding these moments “How important they are,” Pablo explained.

“The most difficult thing in football is scoring goals. So if you concede so many goals so quickly, there is no attack that can compensate for that in the long term. So that's another area we need to address.”

In the first 70 minutes in Austin, his players delivered the perfect response.

For much of the weekend's competition in Austin, RSL appeared to be clearly on the rise. Second-half goals, first from Crooks and then Gonçalves, had given the visitors a two-goal lead and appeared to have tipped an initially close contest in their favour. But unfortunately, disaster struck in the final ten minutes and the Achilles' heel of the team's rearguard reared its ugly head once again, conspiring to undermine any collective successes achieved up to that point by scoring just eight minutes apart conceded several goals, including an 89th-minute heartache that forced both sides to settle for a point each.

It represented a disappointing repeat of the same story against the Timbers just a week earlier, where the team had once again blown a two-goal lead by conceding two set-piece goals and a 90th-minute equalizer, forcing them to retire To settle for a mere lead He scored a point in a thrilling 3-3 draw, and according to Pablo the team must learn from the experience in order to move forward.

“It's a point along the way, but again for us it's (mainly) about performance and I thought for 70 minutes we were a really good team,” explained RSL head coach during the press conference after Saturday's result.

“I thought we started to be careless with the ball in the latter stages of the game, which ultimately overwhelmed the team a little bit, but again we had a learning curve. We have a really young group and unfortunately these are experiences that you have to learn from.

“We've improved on set pieces compared to the last game (Portland) and after this game we'll improve defending in low blocks. “We've got a quick turnaround ahead of us on Wednesday so we need to make sure we're in the right head “We have to show the same commitment and performance that we showed for 70 minutes today and just clean up the areas that cost us the two points.”

RSL's rearguard struggles have continued to be a constant theme and a thorn in the team's side in recent games. The reasons for this may also be very complex and difficult to pin down to a single factor. But the general, prevailing mood and the reason for improvement is still the team's need to always maintain full concentration and master the games efficiently over the entire 90 minutes, a task that, at least based on the results of the season , shouldn't prove too difficult.

The team has demonstrated this on numerous occasions this season, with a series of impressive, record-breaking form and performances early and mid-season, and most recently in the 2-0 and 3-2 wins over New England and Dallas since the restart of the domestic season. The task before us now is to effectively reproduce something that has already been done before, but this time on a more consistent basis and faster.

Three games remaining in the season represents a limited time frame to iron out the inconsistencies and banish the rearguard demons before what is, as has often been noted, expected to be a challenging, unforgiving playoff round.

Time is running out, and running fast, and in an effort to consistently overcome recent slumps in form, this is perhaps the biggest point of discussion for Pablo and the team ahead of their midweek visit to Minnesota.

• More rotations expected? Even before the playoffs begin, there will likely be competition for places, with the quality of the team being a key factor.

Throughout the RSL games in September, the constant rotation of players and positions by Pablo and his staff remained a central, consistent theme. There were a total of seven personnel and positional changes in the 3-2 win against Dallas two weeks ago, and then three just three days later in the 3-3 draw against Portland. Against Austin, that tradition continued by introducing four new faces to the starting lineup before kickoff.

goalkeeper Zac MacMath was drafted between the sticks for his first start in a month, replacing the homegrown prodigy Gavin Beaversand field players Andrew Brody, Braian Ojedaand captain Chicho Arango Texas also had everyone substituted just minutes before the game ended after they all came off the bench against Portland.

With such a crowded schedule, this represented a necessary cycle of options and distribution of minutes to keep players fit and ready to fire, but at the same time it was also more than just that. While staff rotation and player game time management continued are a deciding factor, it also illustrated something perhaps even more telling: fierce, healthy competition for places and a testament to the strength and quality of the entire team across the pitch.

RSL experienced its busiest transfer window in franchise history over the summer, providing the club with a platform and opportunity to really strengthen itself in several key areas.

In attack, midfielder Crooks was given his third consecutive start on Wednesday, along with Diego Luna and Dominik Marczuk, and Chicho all in attack. Still, people like Gonçalves, Lachlan Brook and Anderson Julio All remained on the bench as quality options and all were still fighting for a place in the starting team before the playoffs began.

midfielder Nelson Palacio recently returned from an injury that kept him out of action for nearly a month before and after Noel Caliskan represents the biggest competitors and even more quality options in the midfield Emeka Eneli and Ojeda.

New addition to the defense Javain Brown remains an option for both right and center back Justen Froh And Brayan VeraFull-back Brody also remains an option in both defensive positions as he started up front Alex Katranis on Saturday, with the Greek defender expected to be back in the team on Wednesday. And a homegrown defender Bode Hidalgo remains a unicorn quality option as his versatility makes him increasingly suitable for different positions in defense and attack.

In goal, MacMath and Beavers continue to be good, competitive options behind the back four, with the two having been impressive at different times so far this season.

A key advantage remains obviously that strength in depth creates high-quality prospects across the board in a team, but beyond that, such stability also leads to healthy competition for places, which over time also brings consistency, strong performances and resilience could promote camaraderie and motivation throughout the team. And RSL's strength in quality and numbers, a reflection of the club's pursuit of a playing squad with a raised floor and an even higher ceiling, is indicative of the benefits mentioned above and of the possibilities of an even brighter future on the near horizon .

So grab a snack, sit back and enjoy. There's another quick-turnover game on Wednesday and the Claret and Cobalt players invade.

We're back home at America First Field, so once again have your back and may the odds, as always, always be in our favor.

we are back at AFF. Stand with us once again and may the odds be in our favor as always.