Real Salt Lake vs. Wizards
June 7, 2008 by f4denz.
The long and winding road trip
For KC this is the last in a very long road trip, their last MLS home match was April 12th, but they did play close to home on Wednesday as they beat the Rapids in a Open Cup match 2-2(5-3PKs), so a lot of tired players on the KC side. KC started as one of the surprise teams of MLS by going 3-1-1 in their first five but since then, they have gone 0-3-1 and despite a win against CSD Municipal in the New Mexico Cup (anyone heard of that one before), and the previously mentioned LHUSOC match against the Rapids it has been a while since KC has won a MLS match (April 20th). The Wizards have one of the leagues worst offenses with only 10 goals scored so far this season (SJ has the worst with 7 goals), and this from a team that let Eddie Johnson and his 15 goals last season move on to the EPL. They tried to replace him with a DP of their own Claudio Lopez, who has had some success this season with 3 goals and 1 assist (one goal came on a PK), but in my opinion so far the new guy simply has not lived up to the hype. The biggest threat I see from KC is Jimmy Conrad who has 3 shots this season, 3 shots on goal, and yes 3 goals, on set pieces we have to keep two guys on him or he will make us pay. It will also be interesting to compare the play of Chance Myers (1st overall pick in this years draft) to that of Tony Beltran (3rd overall pick), both have gotten a lot of playing time early in the MLS season.
Can we finally get a 90 minute effort?
So this year RSL has shown moments of brilliance on the pitch, they have played good halves (last weekends 2nd half against SJ), even once they put together a complete 90 minute match at home against DC United. This match provides a chance at home to get their confidence up before having to face Chivas on the road next weekend, and I expect a decent attacking effort by RSL. Last weekend they showed that when they attack, they can control the match much better than trying to simply keep possession of the ball. When teams have to keep their defense back to counter the speed of Espindola or Findley, and the size and grit of Deuchar, it really opens up the midfield and allows RSL to dominate the match. I know that it will critical to any real attempt to make the playoffs that RSL continue their undefeated streak at home, and wins are much more important than draws, we really need at least 12 points from our home matches left before the All Star break. It would be nice to pick up a road win or a couple draws but with our 3 road matches before the break being against Chivas, KC, and Chicago it will be a difficult task. I still am waiting to see us do a better job of getting the ball into Deuchar, the way he is getting manhandled in the box, if you get him the ball, he will either create good chances on goal, or get us some more PKs.
So what will happen today?
Well both teams are impacted by injuries, for KC it looks like Watson, Espinoza, and Marinelli will not see action, and for RSL we will be without Sturgis again, and both Movsisyan and Mantilla are listed as doubtful, will the questionable status attached to Espindola lead to Findley getting the start after his player and goal of the week awards? I expect a great matchup between Lopez and Olave which I think will determine if KC can score in this match, based on recent form I am going to pick Olave to win that battle with some backup help from Nat Borchers. Sealy is a speedy threat, but without the finishing touch of an Espindola or Findley, and is very often caught with basic offside traps. I think RSL will find that the KC defense will do a good job of trying to keep our forwards out of good scoring positions, so the offense will have to come from our midfield, I think Kyle and Javi will get great chances on goal with Andy and Dema getting them good balls in positions for shots. History has been fairly even between these two sides 3 wins for KC, 2 wins for RSL, and one tie in the six matches they have had against each other in MLS play. But last season we beat them twice at RES, 2-1 in the Open Cup, and 3-1 in MLS play.
With Dallas losing and with Chivas losing already this week, a win by RSL would move them up at least two places in the West. Depending on the results between Houston and TFC, and the Galaxy and Rapids, a big win by RSL could move them up to as high as second place in the West. So I am going to call for a huge RSL effort against a solid defensive team 4-1 RSL, which will move us up to 4th place and gets rid of our negative goal differential.
OFF MY SOAPBOX, see you at the match