Chapter 2, Section III, Paragraph B

Thanks to our friends at Behind the Badge for the post-game quotes from the RSL smackdown. One thing caught my eye--this quote from Tommy Soehn about Santino Quaranta . . .

"I think he still has to manage the game a little bit better and recognize when to take people on, and when to hold it. That’s part of maturity."

Alright--two things here. (1) I think that if anybody needs the "when to take on & when to hold it" speech, it's a certain pair of Brazilians, with the most egregious culprit starting with "F" and ending with "d". (2) I hope this isn't the beginning of the traditional USSF Coaching Manual, Chapter 2, Section III, paragraph B, "browbeating the creative, attacking flair out of our kids as soon as possible so they can just play it safe" lesson--also known as the "sideways and backwards are the new forward, didn't you get the memo?" drill. Wasn't this one of the problems with the latter stages of Tino's first run-around with United: all the negative balls and holding things up rather than getting on his bike to beat his defender?

I, for one, found Tino's willingness to get after the RSL backs and take the shot or cross on to be refreshing and a sign of his resurgence and confidence. Sure, some of those shots posed more danger to the crowd than the net, and the crossing left a lot to be desired, but I want to see players taking an aggressive role and making things happen.