Real Salt Lake Updates & More Midweek MLS Action
RSL Updates
RSL, Quakes look to gain ground real.saltlake.mlsnet.com
Real Salt Lake return home to take on the San Jose Earthquakes with both teams looking to start the climb back up the Western Conference standings. With just one win in their last six games, both of Real’s victories have come at Rice-Eccles Stadium, last three weeks ago against FC Dallas. The Earthquakes put an end to their four-game winless streak last week, defeating Houston Dynamo at Buck Shaw Stadium in an emotional night for their first home victory since their return to the league.
Quakes announce player injuries web.mlsnet.com
The San Jose Earthquakes announced that they have placed forward Peguero Jean Philippe on the season-ending injury list and defender Jay Ayres on the six-week disabled list. The two players are now not currently on the Earthquakes active 18-man roster.
Quakes sign Lowery and Benton web.mlsnet.com
The San Jose Earthquakes have signed former Kansas City Wizards defender Amir Lowery and goalkeeper Dan Benton. Lowery will occupy a spot on the developmental roster, while Benton will be placed on the senior roster. Per team and league policy, terms of the contracts were not disclosed.
Sandy moving forward without county funds for Real stadium deseretnews.com
This city is moving forward with plans to provide $10 million for the Real soccer stadium despite a Salt Lake County decision to opt out of the funding package.
The city plans to create a commercial development area to fund a 20-year bond for the money, economic development director Randy Sant told the City Council in a work session Tuesday.
RSL at FC Dallas Player Grades deseretnews.com/blogs
Here are the grades for RSL’s starting 11 and substitutes:
Nick Rimando (5) — Made a couple timely saves, but he was mostly helpless as things broke down defensively in the final 10 minutes.
Chris Wingert (6) — Put forth a solid 90-minute effort playing right back in the first half and left back in the second half.
Battle of the Bottom-Feeders quakes.american-soccer-news.com
Nine days after the San Jose Earthquakes claimed their first home win, the team travels to Real Salt Lake Saturday to play a team unbeaten at home.
Last Thursday against the Dynamo, San Jose was temporarily relieved of its offensive struggles, resulting in their third two-goal game of the season. Unfortunately, the Quakes have not scored in any other game. The Quakes’ measly six goals are by far the least of any team. No other side has netted less than ten. This has pushed the Quakes into a last place spot in the Western Conference. Many predicted the expansion Earthquakes would have paltry offensive production.
2008 Real Salt Lake Roster Maps thebesteleven.com
These maps show where the players on the 2008 Real Salt Lake roster are from. Foreign-born players are mapped by their nation of birth and players born in the USA are mapped by their hometown, as listed at the official MLS player pages.
RSL vs. San Jose Game Guide
Midweek MLS action
United look to keep their winning ways going
DC United fresh off their 3-2 win at home over TFC play their 3rd game in 8 days as they travel north to face the Revolution, but New England has a share of first place and a win tonight would put pressure on Chicago and Columbus to have to keep pace with them. Let’s face some basic facts, first DC United is better than their record and have traditionally been slow starters, second New England is always one of the top teams in the East. So this really is a match between two powerhouse teams with a lot of talent on both sides of the ball, it should be an exciting match, but I am going to pick a 2-2 draw.
Dallas falls victim to last minute goal
Turnabout is fair play and I have to admit even with my pick for Dallas to win 2-1, I was very happy to see them give up a 93rd minute goal and have to settle for a 2-2 draw. It seems not only can FCD score in extra time, but they can give up goals as well, I did smile as DeRo evened the score.
MLS News Updates
Last Call MLS: Allocation Methods ussoccerplayers.typepad.com
Brian McBride’s impending return to Major League Soccer has produced multiple theories, and Mo Johnston joins a soccer show. As we expectantly wait for a thorough explanation of how Brain McBride will end up in Chicago, it might be worth remembering that Danny Szetela was a lock for North Jersey just before he ended up in Columbus.
SBI MLS Best XI: Week 9 soccerbyives.net
After thrashing the New York Red Bulls 5-1, the Chicago Fire figured to have a few selections on this week’s MLS Best XI. How many? Try a season-high four selections, with two more Fire players earning honorable mention.
MLS Rumors: Editorial Piece on the Racial taunts from Columbus fans mls-rumors.com
Over the last 5 days a lot has happened since someone posted a video of an anonymous Columbus Crew fan hurling racist epithets at an African player for the New England Revolution. We decided that rather than shy away from the story we’d report everything we could find out about the incident and any linkage between Crew fans and organized hate groups after someone sent us some artwork for a band associated with Nazism that had a striking resemblance to a Crew supporter’s logo.
ON MY SOAPBOX
I would like to think that this type of crap would not happen in MLS, but it does and will, MLS and clubs must step up and take action. The sad part is that this will be used by some to try and censor a lot of speech at soccer matches, those who find anything objectionable will say that it will lead to this type of behavior. Some will say this is what happens when you serve alcohol at sporting events, others will say this and recent events at Toronto matches, should lead the league to crack down on supporter groups. I think this is a call for supporter groups to do a much better job of policing themselves, something far too few of them do. What is the line that can be drawn? Can the “… has herpes” be seen as too far over the line? How about the famous “wings of an eagle” chant? I say no, but I do think a line can be drawn at anything racial, or threatening violence, fans will have to decide on issues like the F-bomb, sexually suggestive chants, and others that may be deemed “over the line”. One thing is sure if the fans do not control the behavior in the stands the teams, stadium staff, and league will, and that is something that no fan should be wanting.
OFF MY SOAPBOX
MLS coaches sleep uneasily after season’s first sacking guardian.co.uk by Shaka Hislop
It’s better to be lucky than good, goes the old saying. The new FC Dallas stand-in head coach, Marco Feruzzi, will certainly be feeling that way after seeing his side come from behind thanks to two late strikes by super-sub Dominic Oduoro to snatch all three points at home to a decent Real Salt Lake team, coached by former Dallas standout Jason Kreiss.
OFF MY SOAPBOX
This entry was posted on May 29, 2008 at 8:38 pm and is filed under Blogs and News Links. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.