Real Salt Lake vs. San Jose (WWID & Match Preview)
July 3, 2009 by f4denz.
OK so RSL should be looking for revenge for what was in my opinion one of their worst performances in recent history back at the end of May, just a note since that match Real hasn’t lost a match. Both sides will be missing some talent, for RSL Beckerman, Johnson, Alexandre are all taking part in the Gold Cup and while Morales is listed as doubtful and Findley is listed as questionable both were very active in practice and I have a feeling that both will see action. For San Jose they will likely be without Darren Huckerby, who is by far their best player and defender Ryan Cochrane is out recovering from ankle injury.
What Would I Do?
Well it is easy, you are missing players but playing at home against a side that has allowed 27 goals in 14 matches, only New York has given up more (28 in 18 matches), so you attack and then you attack some more and when you’re done doing that you attack again. RSL has scored 22 goals, 3rd most in MLS and their 18 home goals is more than any other team’s home total, and with the way the RSL defense has been playing in recent weeks giving up just 2 goals in 4 matches and posting two clean sheets and being at home aggressive is what I would expect. So my starting lineup would be this:
Rimando
Beltran-Olave-Borchers-Wingert
Russell-Grabavoy-Morales(Williams if Morales can’t go)
Mathis-Movsisyan-Findley
I think Robbie is fit enough to get back into the mix and with Fabi doing well but unable to convert chances getting Findley back into the mix at home is probably a really good thing. The bench will be thin as we only will have 21 current players on our roster (Nimo is on loan) and 3 are on national team duty, so that would leave us with just 18 eligible players so everyone here should get a shot to be on the bench.
So let’s look at the scenarios, up first is the likely event that RSL goes into the half with a lead as San Jose has allowed 14 goals in the first half of matches. If this is the case then I don’t make any changes until the 60th minute unless Javi’s ankle is bothering him, in that case if we are up a single goal or even I bring in Andy to give us that spark that he always brings. If we are up at the 60 minute mark, then I bring in Cox and get him some playing time and reward the great work ethic in practice and let Russell get a break, I still bring in Andy but with a motivation more to rest Javi. At 75 if we are still up, I get Joy into the match and back towards being fully match fit. With a light schedule (just the exhibition against Club America next weekend), it is a great chance to rest some folks and give some young players a chance to get some playing time.
Scenario number two is if RSL is even or behind at the half, 9 of San Jose’s 17 goals have come in the first half, in the unlikely event we are down at the half, then I bring in Williams for Morales if his ankle is bothering him, or for Wingert (moving Russell to the backline) because Andy always seems to add energy and offensive spark to the team. I also consider the fitness of Findley and if his ankle is anything but 100% I bring in Espindola, if I don’t make this move at the half I do it at the 60th minute. If after 75 minutes we are still not ahead, then I would bring in Nunez for Russell and go with a 3-4-3 by moving Mathis into the midfield and putting Tino up top with the others.
This is a match that RSL really needs to win and facing a team with 8 losses, only New York has more, at home means that 3 points should expected to start the second half of the season and would put RSL in front of their 2008 pace and closer to securing a playoff spot.
Match Preview
There are a couple things that really stand out to me as I look at the match, first is that San Jose has allowed 10 more goals than they have scored (27 allowed- 17 scored) while RSL has a plus 5 goal differential with 22 scored and just 17 allowed. Those number are even more telling as you look at RSL’s 18 goals at home with just 7 allowed for a +11 home goal differential, while San Jose has a -11 road goal deficit with just 6 scored and 17 allowed, so RSL scores 2.57 goals per match at home and San Jose allows 2.43 goals per game on the road. The Game guide shows the probable lineups as:
I never trust these and knowing how tight lipped Jason is about his starting lineup and how guys looked at practice yesterday, I would expect one or two changes to the projected lineup. For San Jose I have to admit that I have been impressed with RSL cast off Ryan Johnson (yes expect to hear the “you can’t score with your Johnson” chant tonight), who leads SJ with 6 goals, he has shown that he has found a way to capitalize on his speed to convert that into goals and the matchup with him and our defenders should be entertaining, as Beltran and Olave both have the pace to keep up with him and so far Tony has done well in closing down most teams start players.
I also hear that Cornell Glen will likely be rejoining SJ for the match, I doubt he will start but his only goal this year for the Quakes came against RSL in the 2-1 loss at Buck Shaw field. I can’t call a place with wood bleachers and port-a-potties a stadium. He could impact the match, but the choice of Huckerby to remove himself from this match is an interesting sign of the struggles that San Jose are facing, when Darren joined the struggling side last year he was able to pick them up and make them a playoff contender, but this year he has only seen action in half of San Jose’s matches and has just on goal and two assists in 14 potential matches. Last year he played in 14 matches for SJ and had 6 goals and 4 assists, and I hear rumors of a lot of dissent in the locker room for the Quakes. One has to wonder why they let players like Cam Weaver and Nick Garcia go, and have brought in players like Chris Wondolowski and Aaron Pitchkolan both of who would seem to be downgrades?
For RSL’s attacking players knowing that only Chris Leitch has more than 400 minutes of playing time this year, how will we take advantage of Zaher (351 minutes), McDonald (180 minutes), and Pitchkolan (384 minutes) and potential communications with Joe Cannon, who is struggling with a GAA of 1.93 and not a single clean sheet this season. RSL will need to control the ball and force San Jose to chase and then exploit that weak backline and make Cannon suffer, we only took 8 shots when the teams faced off in May but I would expect double that number at home tonight. Forcing San Jose to chase will also RSL to take advantage of a warm (80’s with high humidity-possibility of storms) and the elevation (4,200 plus feet), a fact that help RSL score late goals, 9 in the final 15 minutes of matches this year, while San Jose has just one goal after the 75th minute of their matches.
Despite missing a number of important pieces to call ups and injuries, I expect that RSL will find a way to give fans another Rio Tinto firework show and I am not talking about the one after the match. Knowing they are short handed expect RSL to look for a couple early goals to give them a bit of a cushion, this one could be a blow out like the Columbus or New England matches but I expect that it won’t get that crazy, nope a 3-1 win is what I am going to predict.
Other Predictions
DC 1 - Columbus 2
Chicago 2 - Colorado 2
New York 1 - FC Dallas 2
Houston 2 - Kansas City 2
New England 1 - LA Galaxy 2
Gold Cup
Canada 2 - Jamaica 2
Costa Rica 1 - El Salvador 0
Honduras 2 - Haiti 1
Grenada 0 - USA 3
Panama 1 - Guadeloupe 0
Nicaragua 1 - Mexico 2
I will see you at the match, until then I am
OFF MY SOAPBOX
A couple quick pictures from yesterday’s RSL practice
July 3, 2009 by f4denz.
Well a short week for me and for Real Salt Lake but playing on Friday night and kicking off the 4th of July holiday weekend, means that I am going to be doing few posts today, that would normally be more in depth over the week. First up are a couple pictures from yesterday’s practice at Rio Tinto Stadium:
Nice to see Ian and Robbie looking very fit and ready to get back to first team action.
Something interesting has happened to RSL in recent weeks, the players and staff are smiling as the recent success has really changed the way everyone is looking at life.
It really was fun to see our staff being very active in practice, most of them look like they could step in and fill some of the empty slots in the midfield.
Andy looked good and I think is everyone is happy that he declined to play for Jamaica in the Gold Cup
Practices aren’t done at a slower pace or with less intensity than real matches, Fabi played a hard shoulder to get possession from Cox
Nat is on a real scoring streak as he put one away from distance in practice
Ned was trying to get into the scoring mix as well but Kyle was there to stop this one
Nick having a bit of fun
Another wallpaper quality shot (if you want a high res copy just let me know) There are some more pictures from practice up at http://connect.roguecavaliers.com/photo/albums/7209-practice
I should have my WWID do up in about an hour, so check back then for now I am
OFF MY SOAPBOX
Mid-season RSL report card
July 3, 2009 by f4denz.
So we are at the midpoint of the 2009 season and for Real Salt Lake it has been a disappointing first half. I am only going to grade players still with the team and who have played in MLS matches, any player with under 10% of the total minutes (135 of 1350 minutes) will get an incomplete. I base my grades both on numbers and what I see both in reviewing matches and taking pictures (you get a very unique view of the match when watching from the viewfinder), if you disagree with my grades let me know and I will combine any feedback and post it next week.
Here is the grading criteria that I use for both the team and players
A=Exceeds Expectations
B=Meets Expectations
C=Meets Requirements
D=Below Requirements
F=Failure to meet Minimum Requirements
I=Incomplete
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Mid-Season Report Card
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Reason for Grade
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To Improve
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Team - C-
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5-6-4
H(4-1-2)
R(1-5-2)
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We are better than this, after 8 matches we were 3-4-1, over the last 7 we are 2-2-3 earning 9 out of 21 points. Our road record improved as I knew it would after a 0-4-0 start we are 1-1-2 on the road. Our home form however is 1-1-1, not nearly good enough.
We are clearly below the expectations of fans, players and staff, we must have a strong second half of the season.
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The move to the 4-3-3 has brought back some life to the RSL offense and defense after a very rough stretch in May (0-4-2), June brought a 2-0-2 and saw RSL pick up 4 road points in two matches. There is a lot going on for RSL, Club America comes to town next week, the All Star match is just 27 days away and we have 4 of our next 6 matches at Rio Tinto. Now is the time to impress fans and the rest of the league by winning all 4 at home and picking up a point or three on the road.
Oh and after goals and matches show the fans some love. The supporters at the south end of the stadium are feeling a bit neglected.(left over from 1st quarter-still needs to be done)
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Player - Grade
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M
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G
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A
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Reason for Grade
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To Improve
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Andy Williams - B
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208
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1
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1
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Andy has only played 50 minutes in the last 7 matches and missed time for family reasons. Andy is a testament to character and class, and when he is on the pitch fans sit on the edge of their seats waiting to see what happens.
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Because of a lack of playing time Andy appears to be a little slow at times in matches, he needs to keep focused on taking full advantage of every minute of playing time he can get. With RSL losing 3 midfielders to Gold Cup play, he could see more playing time and make a splash the way we know only Andy can do.
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Chris Wingert - C
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1166
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0
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1
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I thought the winter call up to the USMNT would spark Chris to play at a higher level. Instead he is now fighting to keep his starting spot. Chris continues to fire shots away from distance, despite never scoring a goal in his MLS career.
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It now appears that I wasn’t the only one who noticed a drop in Wingert’s effectiveness on the pitch. It seems that he was taking too long to get back into position after pushing forward, now he is spending much more time supporting the defensive effort and left a majority of pushing up to other players.
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Clint Mathis - B+
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1144
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2
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6
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Clint was my pick for team MVP for the first quarter of the season, and he still keeps that honor. He has simply been amazing for a player many experts had cast off. He should get major consideration for the All Star match and at this point he is my MLS comeback player of the year.
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Clint has taken a major step forward in contributing to the offensive efforts of the team, and he needs to create good chances with both his knowledge and vision of the game. His passes are great but a little more communication on the pitch could lead to more scoring chances for Clint and the rest of the team.
Just keep up the great work.
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David Horst - I
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86
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0
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0
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Injuries have kept David from getting back into action but he works very hard in practice and for a young central defender he appears to be improving week by week.
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When he gets his chances to play he has to use both his size and talent to give him the advantage. I would also like to see him work to become a target offensive threat.
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Fabian Espindola - C
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455
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1
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1
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Fabi has worked his way back into the starting lineup but hasn’t been able to regain the scoring touch he had last year (5 goals in 642 minutes). He needs to get into the mix in the area and look for his chances instead of staying out on the wings all the time.
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I have been very critical of Espindola, he has all the talent to be a superstar in this league but for some reason since returning he has been up and down and fits nicely as a role player while Findley is out hurt. With Escalada gone, Fabi needs to step it up and get back to being a goal scoring machine like we all know he is capable of being.
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Jamison Olave - C-
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999
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2
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0
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Olave has all the talent in the world but his actions on the pitch have earned him 2 red cards, both likely cost RSL points on the road. He is a force but has to stop making stupid mistakes and hurting the team.
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I wondered if there was something physically wrong with Olave earlier in the season leading to his rash of poor decisions on the pitch. I don’t believe that is the case any longer, I just think he has lost control of his behavior on the pitch and become dangerous both to opponents and his own team. He has to play in control or his reputation in the league will get worse and really hurt his ability to be effective.
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Javier Morales - C+
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1127
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1
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4
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Early in the season Javi was getting upset that his old tricks and style from last year wasn’t surprising anyone, but in recent weeks he seems to have found freedom in the new 4-3-3 formation. He leads the team in fouls committed(18), fouls suffered(39), and yellow cards (6), he has to learn to play with more discipline and good things will happen for him.
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Javi needs to take advantage of the new formation and really step up his leadership of the offense, I doubt he can get to 15 assists again this year but I expect a huge jump from his current 4. He also needs to make sure that when he takes set pieces that the delivery is sharp, that has tailed off a bit in recent weeks.
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Jean Alexandre-I
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7
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0
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0
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Jean hasn’t seen much action with RSL but has gotten good reviews after playing several matches for the Austin Aztexs of the USL. Including what may end up to be the goal of the year for USL.
He was also called up by Haiti for the Gold Cup which could see him get more playing time as well.
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A young player needs playing time and Jean is getting that as RSL takes advantage of the relationship with Austin. I expect when he comes back to RSL he will be match fit and match sharp and ready to fight for a spot in a very crowded midfield.
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Kyle Beckerman - C-
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1259
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2
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1
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Kyle seemed to struggle during the RSL dry spell in May but with the new formation he seems to have regained his form, enough to get a Gold Cup call up for the USMNT. The captain of the team and the player in the middle of our core on the pitch has to be at the top of his game in every match and Kyle has had too many disappointing matches in the first half of 2009.
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A tough as nails player who needs to keep his focus better during matches. He is the person who should be controlling the match and setting the pace for RSL and too often he is just a minor role player in matches. Perhaps the call up to the Gold Cup roster will fire him up, he did have a good match against TFC last weekend.
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Luis Miguel Escalada
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126
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1
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0
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LME is gone, the reality is that players in MLS have to work as hard in practice as they would in matches, most MLS teams have short practices so coaches and staff have to see a lot out of them. LME didn’t show enough work ethic to get on the pitch and show how is talent could be used.
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Nat Borchers - B
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1329
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1
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0
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Nat has been the stabilizing force on the backline for RSL, no matter the lineup he has been there to provide leadership and solid play. He recently got his first goal in a RSL uniform and is proving that teams have to worry about him as well as Olave on set pieces.
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The only thing that would improve Nat’s performance is to become more productive on offensive set pieces. His grade is pulled down a little by the overall performance of the team.
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Ned Grabavoy - B
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431
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0
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2
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A lot of people questioned signing Ned, but he is a quality player and over recent weeks has proven to be a real asset both off the bench and in the starting 11. He plays hard and does a great job of keeping possession in the midfield.
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Recent weeks have seen Ned get more playing time and he hasn’t disappointed. I expect with more time that his offensive numbers will improve as he has shown quality in passing and crossing the ball.
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Raphael Cox - I
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105
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0
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0
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Raphael is a great person and a first class player, he shows respect to both the fans, opponents and even the officials after every match. Even when he doesn’t get playing time, he has talent and with more playing time he may prove to be a real steal of the 2009 draft.
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With so many RSL midfielders getting national team call ups, Cox may prove to be a real x-factor for RSL. He has shown talent and grit when he gets playing time and as his minutes on the pitch increase, I have a feeling his confidence and output will as well.
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Robbie Findley - B+
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877
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6
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2
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Despite being out with an ankle injury for the last 3 matches after a bad tackle from behind in the Colorado match, Robbie still is one of the top goal scorers in MLS with 6 goals. His speed and finishing ability make him one of the most dangerous young players in MLS.
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Robbie will need to work hard to recapture his finishing touch when he comes back to the lineup (tomorrow is my guess), one of the many things that has been noticed as a shortcoming of RSL is that our strikers tend to stop runs and not keep themselves in plays in the area. Working up the middle and fighting for rebounds and defensive mistakes is an easy way to get goals, as Robbie found out against Columbus. We need all our strikers to get into the area more and look to punish teams when mistakes are made.
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Robbie Russell - B-
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919
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0
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1
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Double R has stepped in to boost our backline when injuries, suspensions, or bad form have kept others out, in fact he has more than doubled his minutes in the last 7 weeks (despite being suspended for a match). His grade dipped just a little after a silly mental breakdown in the Colorado match, which put us a man down late in the match and Colorado scored the tying goal after he left the pitch, two points that RSL should have.
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A hardworking, talented, speedy players with one of the best personalities I have ever encountered from a veteran pro sports player. He needs to watch out for silly fouls and knows that he needs to leave conversations with the officials up to others. I love the energy and effectiveness when he pushes forward in support of the offense, just a little work on communications and his final passes and the assists will start to really add up for Robbie.
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Tony Beltran - B+
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781
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0
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0
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Tony has worked his way back into the starting lineup with hard work, playing with energy and passion. Not many second year defenders can match up against guys like Landon and DeRo one on one and come out smelling like a rose but Tony has. He is quick to support the offense and gets back into defensive position in a flash. According to sources, his mother is one of the best RSL fans you will ever find.
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Quicker passes and better communications were things that Tony had to work on and he has improving greatly in recent weeks. He still needs to look to let the ball do more work and getting rid of it quicker will let him do that. He has the speed and vision to work with the forwards in creating some breakaway attacks. His crosses and passes still need a little work and despite his smaller frame he is on his way to being a very good outside back for RSL.
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Will Johnson - B-
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1260
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1
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1
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The move to the 4-3-3 has put Will in a much more defensive role for RSL but the move has really been good for his performance, enough to get called up with the Canadian National team for the Gold Cup. He is still an offensive threat but has struggled with that final touch this year. The new formation may allow him to get more assists and with so many offensive threats he should get better looks at the goal as well.
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Not sure why but Will has struggled a bit delivering quality passes this year, it may be the changing conditions that we have played in but the only think I can expect from Will is better passing and better quality on shots. His energy level and passion are examples of how to play the game.
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Yura Movsisyan - B
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1107
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4
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2
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I don’t know what happened, perhaps it really is the new shoes, but it appears that Yura is back. He has a goal or assist in 4 straight matches and with Robbie F being injured, the offense has gotten back on track. Big goals on the road at LA and Houston have helped RSL earn 4 of 6 possible points from our June road matches. All of this while becoming a threat to pass the ball as well, Yura appears to be understanding what Jason means when he says “Most goals in this league come from a mistake” In the match against TFC Yura forced the mistake and capitalized on it.
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Early in the year it looked like Yura had considered a new sport, but the diving and going down on light contact Yura has left the stadium and the bulldog has returned. He has to continue to fight and make defenders work very hard to contain him, he will still get his chances but this should open up the door for other players as well. A little bit more communications will help Yura as he makes great runs into the box, he has made good strides at getting into good positions and his energy level is back. He has to work hard even when he isn’t scoring goals and his efforts on defense have to stay consistently at the level he has shown in recent weeks.
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Ian Joy - I
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7
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0
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0
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Ian made his return to the pitch last weekend and the fans showed him much love. Ian is one of the great guys on and off the pitch. You can tell how much he loves playing this game by the way he conducts himself. It will be exciting to see what he can do in the second half of the MLS season.
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Stay healthy, get match fit, and work hard to get into the starting 11. We have a great defense and Tony and Robbie R have fought their way into a lot of starts this year. The competition for playing time should take everyone to the next level.
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Tino Nunez - I
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18
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0
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0
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I am a Tino Nunez fan, he shows nothing but talent and class every time he gets to play no matter the circumstances. He works hard in practice and with the departure of LME could get more playing time in the second half of the season.
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He has to keep his spirits up, I know he wants to play and prove that he can be a force at this level, and I think those chances will come. Continued hard work in practices and during scrimmages can only impress both fans and staff.
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Minutes
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GAA
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SHO
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Nick Rimando - A-
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1025
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0.97
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4
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Nick was the RSL “Man of the Month” in my opinion, since coming back from injury he has been a force of nature and has made some of the most spectacular saves of the year. He is now one of the top 5 keepers in MLS and has always shown great love and respect to the fans.
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Nick is a keeper who lives and dies by his quickness and reading of the game, few are better at this in all of MLS. He has to work hard to pass along knowledge to our developing keepers, while maintaining his dominance on the pitch. He needs to be more vocal in taking leadership of the defensive aspects of the game
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Chris Seitz - C+
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270
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1.67
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0
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Chris is finally back fit and his shoulder injury appears fully healed. While he struggled from time to time when filling in for Nick, getting tossed in to the frying pan is never easy. Keepers need time playing against the top level of players to gain knowledge and confidence, as Chris gets more playing time in matches both with RSL and on quick loans he will continue to get better.
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As a keeper with a very physical and aggressive style of play, communications with your defenders is critical. The keeper is the organizing general of the backline and Chris has to be more vocal in taking that role when he playing. I think the summer and fall will see him get more playing time and he will need to get his GAA down a bit in order to get a better grade.
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Kyle Reynish-B+
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55
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1.64
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Kyle is a worker, in practice he is always doing his best to keep his skill level high. Coming in at keeper off the bench is touch and Kyle puts forth a great effort in being ready when that call comes.
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Keep on working and staying focused, this year has proven that keepers on the bench have to be ready on very short notice to make adjustments. Playing time will come as the summer moves along either on loans or in friendly matches, be ready to impress when given the chance.
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Jason Kreis - B-
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A strong June and showing the ability to change formations and playing style show that Jason is truly learning his craft as a coach. He is a demanding guy, who expects the highest level of work from players, both at practice and in matches. I think the move to a more offensive style is something that Jason has wanted to do for a while and the 4-3-3 is working well for RSL. Jason is a creature of habits, and as he told me recently “hang around me for a while and you will have plenty of superstitions” . Those will only get you so far in this league but I have been impressed with how Jason has been willing to admit mistakes when made and lay blame on himself and players when the need arises.
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Jason said it last week, that he is disappointed with the results so far and he knows that a better second half of the season is the only way RSL can get back into the playoffs. He runs a tough ship but I think he has learned to be much more even handed and fair with the players as he gets used to being the man in charge. He has done a great job in bringing out the best of both veterans like Mathis and younger players like Beltran, but he has to get the team mentally tough as well. Undisciplined play has cost RSL points both at home and on the road, stupid fouls and yellow cards have put the team at a disadvantage and while the coach can’t be blamed for all the mistakes, he is responsible to ensure that his team is both physically and mentally ready for every match.
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OK that is it, after a couple hours of work, a power outage and lost drafts there is my mid season report card. I will be doing my WWID and match preview tomorrow morning but until then I am
OFF MY SOAPBOX
Real Salt Lake by the Numbers (midseason review)
July 2, 2009 by f4denz.
So each week I have looked at how RSL is doing by looking at a variety of the numbers and then comparing them to previous seasons, other MLS teams, and even how individual numbers on the team are impacting overall performance. Perhaps the most important number I have been looking at is the likelihood of Real Salt Lake making the 2009 playoffs, which is an expectation of myself and most fans. I have used the numbers provided by sportsclubstats.com, which looks at how all the matches in the league and how they impact the playoff chances of each team, the results are published as a percentage of the likelihood that the team will make the playoffs. For RSL the low spot of the season came just a few weeks ago after the 1-1 draw with Colorado, which dropped the RSL chances of making the playoffs to just 24.85% after 6 straight weeks of their chances at the playoffs dipping lower and lower. Last week coming off the 1-1 road draw with MLS’s best team the likelihood of RSL making the playoffs was up to 43.17%, but after beating a TFC which was ahead of them in the playoff race and some other interesting weekend results the numbers have improved to:
61.23% is now the likelihood that RSL will make the playoffs this season and if the Independence Day weekend is kind to RSL that number could jump over 70%, every match this weekend will impact the number. For a little historic reference, last year in week 15 RSL was sitting at 60.13% after beating eventual MLS Cup champions Columbus 2-0. Not a lot of improvement but it is a little better than last year, and perhaps that number is so close because RSL is sitting with 19 points after 15 matches and that is the exact same number as last year. 19 points is 10 points better than the 2007 season, 6 points better than 2006, and 7 points better 2005.
When you look at the standings for the Western Conference they look like this:
Since Seattle is off this weekend, RSL fans should pay close attention to the results when the Chicago Fire travel to the mile high Dick’s. A win by RSL and loss by Colorado would put us ahead of them and just a win behind Seattle.
So we have looked at the playoffs, points and standings and now let’s take a look at how the offense and defense are doing:
The lower the red bar the better and we have allowed fewer goals after 15 matches than in any of our previous seasons, and the higher the blue bar the better and we have scored more goals in our first 15 matches of the season than any other year in RSL history.
How about individual numbers? RSL’s leader in goals is Robbie Findley with 6 goals, despite being out the last 3 weeks with injuries he is tied for 5th in MLS for goals scored. The Clint Mathis resurgence this season is truly worthy of a All Star spot, his 6 assists are tied for second in MLS just one behind Houston’s Brad Davis, he has also added in 2 goals. Nick Rimando appears to have recovered from his injury and he has lead the defensive effort of RSL in just allowing 2 goals in their last 4 matches, including two clean sheets, in fact the recent weeks have seen Nick’s GAA drop to 0.97 which is 4th best in MLS and his 4 clean sheets is tied for 3rd in MLS. A clean sheet on Saturday would drop is number to .84, the same as Kasey Keller. Yura has recently found his scoring form and only 4 players have more game winning goals than he does, and his streak of 4 straight matches with a goal/assist is tied for the longest active streak in MLS and just two shy of the longest streak of the season.
Team numbers are also impressive as RSL is 3rd in the league in goals, the two teams(DC United & Seattle) in front of us both have played 16 matches vs. our 15. We are 5th in assists, 2nd in both shots and shots on goal and 4th in goals allowed. One not so impressive number is that RSL has the longest goalless streak of the year at 350 minutes, it would take New York two more matches without scoring a goal to tie that streak. At home RSL is the best scoring team in the league with a 2.57 average in their 7 home matches so far this year, on the road only New York is worse than RSL’s 0.50 average, but NY is much worse with just a 0.10 average on the road, that is one goal in their 10 road matches.
So what does all of this mean? Well it means that things aren’t nearly as bad as many have thought, but it also means that we haven’t lived up to anyone’s expectations, I thought we would have at least one more win than our current five, I expected two fewer loses than our current 6. With 2 more home matches in their next 3 before the All Star match, we have a real chance to improve those numbers as we face the bottom two teams in the West (San Jose and FC Dallas). Our only road match before then is at Columbus, who will likely be looking for revenge for their 4-1 thrashing at Rio Tinto, it will be a great challenge to see if RSL can play as well against the second place Eastern Conference team as they did against the West leading Houston two weeks ago.
I hold out a lot of faith that RSL will have a better second half of the season than they did the first half, if RSL can go 6-4-5 over their final 15 matches we would end the year at 11-10-9 with 42 points and no team with 40 or more points has missed the playoffs since MLS went to a 30 match season and a 12-9-9 would give us 45 points and a 99.9% chance of making the playoffs.
Tomorrow I will be heading out to practice to take some pictures and do some thinking about my mid season report card, I hope to have that up some time Thursday evening, until then I am
OFF MY SOAPBOX
RSL 3 - TFC 0 (post match press conference)
June 28, 2009 by f4denz.
OK, something to keep you busy before the US vs. Brazil match. Here is the audio (raw-no edit) from the post match press conference with RSL head coach Jason Kreis Click Here
Here are some post match quotes from RSL players:
REAL SALT LAKE MIDFIELDER CLINT MATHIS
On the importance of tonight’s showing at Rio Tinto Stadium:
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re at home or on the road, it’s always important to get three points. But just to show the fans we’ve regrouped and that we’re back on track like at the beginning of the season. If we continue to play like this and be really hard to break down, not give up so many chances, I think we’ll be in the driver’s seat.”
On the reasons for his renaissance season for Real Salt Lake:
“I just feel good. I’m actually happy to play soccer here, and I think there were a few years where different circumstances were happening and I was almost thinking ‘What was I doing in the sport? It’s not making me happy,’ and I always said that I’d quit when I wasn’t happy.
“But I’ve found myself in a situation where I was given a shot with a great organization, great coaching staff, and great ownership. It makes a big difference when you’re out on the field to have those kinds of things surrounding you.”
REAL SALT LAKE FORWARD YURA MOVSISYAN
On the differences between his recent form and his struggles early in the season:
“I don’t think I was forcing things earlier, I just wasn’t getting lucky with some of the bounces. I think I’m doing the same thing, but now I’ve got a lot more confidence. It’s a game, sometimes things go your way and sometimes they don’t.”
On reasons for RSL’s recent turnaround:
“The important thing is everyone’s on the same page. All the players are fighting hard, and we’ve said since the beginning that if we can keep a zero we’re going to win games, and that’s what we’ve been doing.”
REAL SALT LAKE FORWARD KYLE BECKERMAN
On the keys to the team’s four-game undefeated streak:
“I think we’re getting back into form. The confidence is coming back, Yura [Movsisyan] is heating up, and we’re getting goals in timely parts of the game, and if you do that, you can go far.”
On playing with a lead:
“Anytime you go up in a game it’s going to help, it just takes a little pressure off. You’ve got your goal so you don’t need to score again and from there it’s about winning the game. They have to come out and expose themselves a little bit and then you can create more opportunities, and I think that’s what happened today.”
On the dividends since switching to the 4-3-3 formation:
“I think we’re kind of settling into this 4-3-3 really well. Maybe it suits our players a little bit better right now and we’re starting to get used to it. This is four games with it now, and we know that we can get a lot of good possession. We kind of know what to expect now, we believe it, and it shows with our confidence.”
So I am getting ready for a trip but I will try to post some pictures from the second half of the match before I leave this afternoon.
OFF MY SOAPBOX