Three things from #MINvRSL

1. In life there are many reasons to feel disrespected. And there are, as Bridget McDowell pointed out, rules against that kind of thing.

But this defense is more disrespectful than anything David Ochoa could ever dream up.

Although there might be a lot more wrong here than simply bad defense.

2. Two games in and this roster may have a lot more questions than originally hoped. Recent and anticipated signings should help with what has been a rather uninspiring and disjointed offense, while the injury to Bakaye Dibassy has shown-up a thinness in defense that might just need to be lived through. But last night the point of concern was the midfield. Let’s assume for a moment that Ján Greguš just had a really bad game, a one-off that we shouldn’t read too much into. With that, two things have become apparent. While dislodging the pivot a bit, the most important role Ozzie Alonso plays on this team, and through most of his career, is being the center of gravity. He can, by sheer force and force-of-will, control the style and feel of a game. Wil Trapp cannot do that. Hassani Dotson could grow into being able to do that if given the chance. Greguš and Jacori Hayes can at times do that with skill if not with force. Emanuel Reynoso should not have to do that. There will rightly be a lot of “Reynoso was forcing the game” post-game analysis, because he was. The problem last night, though, was not that he had a bad game because he was forcing the game - again, athletes sometimes just have bad games, it happens - but that he had to.

3. Chase Gasper seems to have plateaued into the player he is.

And so I have been trying to think, all morning, of anyone who has gotten demonstrably better as a Loon. Not simply someone who has played up to their ability - certainly Dotson and Dayne St. Clair have gotten better while playing for Minnesota United, but it is hard to argue against the claim that they have simply continued a previous trajectory of development - but someone who has become a better player because of being in this club.