We’re No. 10!

Cold consolation is watching your once-proud team usher two legends into retirement with a meaningless rout of a confused and ill-favored foe. 4-1 felt nice, and it was fantastic to see Bake score a clever goal, but what did we learn about this team from last night’s game?

Pundits will say before these kinds of games that the teams “have nothing to play for save pride.” I tend to disagree, preferring to emphasize the opportunity, in a game like this, to see something different. [harpomarx] Winning 4-1 sure is something different. [/harpomarx] But if what we’ve learned is we can absolutely kick the ass of one of the worst teams in the league while using mostly players that’ll be gone next year – what’s that? Who freakin’ cares? I’m talking about starting Ristic, Umanzor, and Conde – all of whom are out of contract after the season.

Of the trio, Umanzor was the only one that really played poorly, but in so doing he was only doing-what-he-do: Run all over the place like a terrier, pass to no one in particular, and cause problems by simple chaotic fierceness; a Salvadoran Heyduk. I assume that Segares and Krol are under the control of an evil sorceress or something, because otherwise whywhywhy?

Ristic has shown a lot along the right side in the last few games, and I have no problem starting him from a performance standpoint. He is out of contract, so clearly both sides are feeling out the other, and I suppose that part of that may be seeing him in an extended run in a stable position. Then why Conde? Because we know exactly what Wilman has to offer – he’ll knock some guys over, his first touch will be awesome, he’ll soar the prettiest 40-yard diagonal ball to no one you’ve ever seen. What did we learn from starting Wilman Conde?

Clearly, I have no view into the machinations behind the scenes in the front office. Maybe the lineup was confirmation that Ljungberg’s going to pick up his option, and Conde’s staying put, and Ristic has CFSC1997 tattooed across his shoulder blades. To me, the lineup looked like a team on auto-pilot, the kind of selection an artificial intelligence set to “cup final” might throw out there: Effective but (as this is decidedly not a cup final) pointless.Next year is what matters now, and has been since the playoffs went away for us. I would have liked the lineup to reflect that.

All that aside, it was genuinely lovely to see CJ Brown and Brian McBride get a victory lap. As a parade float, this game was fantastic. I just tend to want my parade float-moments to happen after trophies.

Dale Fire.

Category: Team News