Player Spotlight: Exciting New Player Faces at the Riot
Three of RSL’s newest summer signings all made their very first appearances in front of the Riot, at a sold-out America First Field, in a 0-2 upset to the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night in the Claret-and-Cobalt’s return to MLS domestic action in over a month.
New Portuguese midfielder Diogo Gonçalves was handed a full debut starting on the left flank, in place of the suspended Diego Luna, whilst Australian attacker Lachlan Brook, and Jamaican defender Javain Brown were each handed their first appearances off the bench as second-half substitutes as the team battled hard in search of a way back into the match on an ultimately frustrating night at the 801.
Gonçalves, the newly assigned number 10 and designated player, and cream of the crop - perhaps - of the Club’s latest summer recruits, was given a start, as one of the team’s main offensive threats, on the left of its forward front three in the absence of the team’s customary creator-in–chief Luna. The 27-year-old put in a fine debut performance showing nice touches and momentary flashes of brilliance on the ball, even having a chance to score, and offering a glimpse into what he could provide the team and what fans could expect from him in the near future.
In the 53rd minute, with the team two goals down in the contest, RSL’s new number 10 came close to halving the deficit when a smart exchange between Alex Katranis and Emeka Eneli allowed the latter to pick out the run of Gonçalves into the left half-space with a well-timed through ball, but the Portuguese's subsequent shot went agonizingly wide off the post.
A minute later, Gonçalves then came close to setting up another consolation when his through ball from a central position found an onrushing Matt Crooks at the base of the penalty area but Crooks’ eventual first-time shot flew straight into the waiting arms of Daniel de Sousa.
Throughout his 90 minutes on the pitch, Gonçalves recorded a total of 20 successful passes - an accuracy rate of 77 percent, including one key pass, and four total shots - the most of any RSL player on the pitch throughout the night.
Brook, Brown Make Second-Half Bows
Aussie U-23 attacker Lachlan Brook was the second player to make his debut on the night, and the tenth debutant this season for RSL. The 23-year-old from Gawler, Australia was introduced as a 61st-minute substitute in place of Maikel Chang to provide the team with more offensive threat and penetration from the right flank, before eventually being moved to the left to partner up with Gonçalves in the half-space.
The former Wycombe Wanderers man also provided compelling flashes of brilliance and individual quality in creating separation and space for himself and teammates in the final third, through slick touches and passes, and nice dribbling, as well as an enviable work rate in working hard for the team both on and off the ball.
With the clock counting down towards full time, RSL’s newest number 17 also had a chance late on to pull one back for the hosts. In the 80th minute, Eneli, advancing from midfield again and picking up the ball in the left halfspace, found Brook with a simple pass just inside the box, and the 23-year-old in turn shifted his body weight intelligently to the left with his first touch, to create separation from an onrushing defender, before unfortunately arrowing a low effort just wide to the right of the goal.
Throughout his first appearance, Brook made a total of 18 successful passes in merely 29 second-half minutes - an accuracy rate of 82 percent, including one key pass, two total shots, and one shot on target, an impressively lively debut.
Jamaican defender Javain Brown featured as RSL’s third debutant on the night, and the Club’s eleventh in total this season. The 25-year-old came on as a second-half substitute in the 74th minute as a replacement for Bode Hidalgo at right back to help the team shore up defensively as the rest of its attacking players went broke for goal in search of a way back in the final quarter of an hour left of play.
In his 15 minutes on the pitch, Brown completed an impressive 15 successful passes, perhaps an indicator of the team’s general monopoly of possession throughout the game, at an accuracy rate of 75 percent.
Despite the defeat, it spelled an overall solid and encouraging display from RSL’s new boys in preparation for future sterner tests. With Luna also set to return from his yellow card accumulated suspension in the team’s next game, the outlook of Brook, and/or Gonçalves lining up alongside the 20-year-old and Chicho in attack certainly makes for a mouthwatering probability.
Did You Know?
RSL’s three debutants on the night represented the Club’s ninth, tenth, and eleventh overall debutants during the 2024 season alone, and the 213th, 214th, and 215th different players to represent the Claret-and-Cobalt in the franchise’s 20-year history.
With a standing-room-only crowd of 21,015, RSL sold out America First Field yet again for the seventh consecutive game and ninth across all competitions this season, indicative of the team’s relative success thus far this season.
What This Means/What Comes Next
Saturday night’s loss now extends the number of consecutive defeats suffered during the Mastroeni era to 10, in 129 all-time games under the 47-year-old. Since mid-July, RSL has now lost four of its last six across all competitions.
The Club will now embark on a new stretch with three of its next four and five of its next eight games to be played at home at America First Field where RSL boast a 9-3-1/28 point-record this season across regular season & Leagues Cup action.
Following consecutive defeats now to Houston and San Jose, Pablo and the boys will be out for redemption when the team welcomes New England Revolution to America First Field next Saturday, August 31. Kickoff is at 7:30 pm, with tickets available at http://rsl.com/tickets
