Real Salt Lake vs. Chivas & MLS week 12

Still looking for first road points

RSL has gotten points from every home game but after five matches on the road they do not have a single point going 0-5-0, and scoring only 3 goals while giving up 12 goals. Earlier this season when RSL faced off against the goats at the HDC earlier this season it was a 3-1 loss in a match that saw the play much closer than the final score. Both sides have improved their play in recent weeks Chivas is 3-2-0 in their last five matches, while RSL is 2-2-1, but both sides will be without some major pieces either due to injury or to international duty.

Goat’s have offensive issues

Chivas will be missing their most potent offensive weapon as Sacha Kljestan will be with the US National team, and goat’s will also be without last years leading goal scorer as Galindo is still out with an injury. Also missing will be Aleck Eskandarian and Alex Zotinca who are both on the injured list. A couple Chivas players will have to be on their best behavior due to yellow card accumulation, both Jesse Marsch and Atiba Harris will be suspended with their next yellow cards. RSL will have to find a way to deal with Jorge Flores, you know the kid getting all the attention after scoring 3 goals in 4 matches, but the attention isn’t from that it is from how he got a shot with Chivas. He was the winner of the 2007 Sueno MLS reality show, that lead to a spot with Chivas and the rest has been as they say “history”.

A larger concern for RSL will have to be the play of Jesse Marsch who has 4 goals this season, and former RSL player Atiba Harris who may only have one goal, but has 3 assists and has proven to be able to be a match changer for Chivas. One big question for both sides is will Ante Razov finally find his form, he has been on the pitch for under 500 minutes so far this season and has just a single goal. The final thing RSL will have to keep an eye on is what reaction will Carey Talley have to facing his former side for the first time since being traded for a future draft pick, RSL fans have seen Talley at his best and worst in the last two seasons but which will we see tonight?

RSL again without some key pieces

Anytime RSL fans see Kenny Cutler starting in the midfield they should be worried, and with injuries to Nathan Sturgis and Andy Williams on national team duty with Jamaica, it looks like Jason will favor Kenny over moving Dema to D-mid and giving Cordoba a start. Not the move I would have made, but perhaps having fresh legs later in the match are part of the plan to get our first points of the season on the road. RSL will also be missing Movsisyan, and Espindola is listed as doubtful.

Then add in the known road ills of RSL this season and it will be tough to get a win (something RSL has never done against Chivas at the HDC), let alone get a point, which they have done only once when facing the goats on their home pitch. A key will be RSL continuing to get chances on goal in their last two matches RSL has taken 34 shots (15 against San Jose and 19 against KC), half of those 17 have been on goal (10-SJ, 7-KC), they will need to put up similar numbers if they want to put and keep Chivas on their heels. Findley will need a match like he had against the Quakes, while Deuchar needs to remain calm and keep on working hard.

Kenny Deuchar has been incredible to watch, and while he has not scored as many goals as we would have liked he has been a player that opposing teams are being forced to deal with. On offense teams must mark him, a shame is that he is getting fouled more often than is being called, I fear that his size, physical play, and refusal to dive have cause officials to overlook many of the fouls committed against him. Kenny has shown the ability to work himself into the midfield to release other players to move forward into attacking positions, and on defense he gets back to help out his teammates both on set pieces and during the course of regular play.

This match will be a struggle of midfields, RSL has gotten 6 goals and 8 assists from players who will make up their midfield this evening, and they will be facing a Chivas side that will feature players with 9 goals and 5 assists. Whichever team wins the battle of the midfield will have to face strong keepers, despite each having a GAA of over 1.5, Rimando and Guzan are among the best in MLS. I expect that the defense of RSL will step up once again, with Olave in the back line they have given up only 2 goals in their past 3 matches.

This match will be a rough and tumble affair but I do believe the result will be much closer than the meeting these two sides had in April, and while I fear RSL will not be able to pick up a win on the road, I am going to pick them to get a point as this one ends in a 1-1 draw.

Game Guide

The Rest of the MLS week 12 action

Win-Lose-Win-Lose

That is the record of both TFC and the Rapids over their last four matches, but wait these two have more in common; both have given up 15 goals so far in MLS action, both have five wins in MLS play this year, and both are missing some big names on international duty (8 players in total). First up, the Rapids will be missing: Coundoul, Matroeni, and Ihemelu all are on national team duty, Erpen is suspended for a red card, and Petke, Hughes, Colaluca, and Burciaga Jr. will likely miss the match with injuries. Next up TFC who are without: Brennan, Sutton, Guevara, Edu, and Marshall are on national team duty, but Toronto has no other players out with injuries or suspension, so they are probably in a little better shape as far as the level of talent they will be able to put on the pitch. I expect a good battle in the midfield as Ricketts and Robert will work the outside for Toronto, and Christian Gomez will attack in the middle for Colorado, which should make for some exciting play, but TFC has not lost at home and Colorado has only one result on the road, with both teams playing with back up keepers an entertaining 2-1 match is my pick with TFC keeping their undefeated streak at home alive. Will TFC fans (who will have all day to drink and get fired up for the match) obey the new rule on streamers? I doubt it, but what can really be done to stop them, something to keep your eyes on during this match TFC fans vs. Commissioner Garber a match within the match.
Game Guide

Battle of Eastern cellar dwellers

At the start of the season who would have thought going into week 12 of the MLS season that mighty DC United and the dual DP Red Bulls would have a total of 8 wins between them? New York has one of the worst offenses in MLS this year with just 11 goals, and now with their leading scorer Jozy Altidore gone to Spain, will Angel regain his form of last season, if not who will become the go to guy for the Red Bulls? DC United has the worst defense in MLS having given up 22 goals and having the worst goal differential in the league at -6. Both sides are coming off wins last week and United has the more impressive victory beating the Fire 2-1 in Chicago. New York has a number of players listed as questionable: Angel, Parke, Reyna, Richards, Echeverry, and Francis Doe is on national team duty. United still are without Ben Olsen and Jeff Carroll due to injuries and will be missing both Bryan Namoff and Marcelo Gallardo who were given read cards last weekend but in front of the Bara Brava and Screaming Eagles I expect United to put together enough to win this match 2-1. Sidenote: keep a close eye on the officials Kevin Stott is the man in charge for this match and he has had some very questionable outings this season.
Game Guide

Wizards hope there’s no place like home

After 6 matches on the road, you have to expect that a large crowd will be on hand for the return of the Wizards to Community America Ballpark, but you have to feel bad for a team forced to play in a minor league baseball stadium. The real upside is that KC get to face once powerful Columbus, who have fallen on really hard times in recent weeks. You could point to the three straight loses for the Crew (two at home), but more significant is the fact that the boys in black and yellow have not scored a goal in their last four MLS matches. Columbus is also going to be shorthanded as Frankie Hejduk is on national team duty, Brad Evans is suspended for a red card last weekend, and Ezra Hendrickson, MIglioranzi, Moffat, and Padula are out with injuries. KC has a couple players out with injuries, Souter and Watson, but otherwise their roster is untouched by suspensions or players on national team duty. The struggle will be to see which team can score, the Crew have their struggles mentioned above, but the Wizards have the second worst offense in the MLS this season with just 10 goals (only expansion San Jose are worse with 9). This one will probably be a 0-0 draw, but I am going to give the Wizard fans a break after not having a match to attend for 6 weeks and pick KC to win 1-0.
Game Guide

Best of the West vs. Worst of the West

The LA Galaxy are the best in the west with 17 points, which would put them in fourth in the East, but they get to face expansion side San Jose in another match being played in a baseball stadium (McAfee Coliseum-home of the Oakland A’s). Both sides have won two of their last three matches, but LA will be without Landycakes who has 9 goals on the season (despite missing several matches), which is the same number as the entire San Jose roster. There are lot’s of players gone on both sides with injuries and international duty, but lets be honest on this one, the Galaxy have Beckham, and the best player on the San Jose side is Joe Cannon their keeper. This one despite looking like a match on paper will be more likely a repeat of their first match up this year, where San Jose played well but lost 2-0. I see no reason to think this one will be any different, so I am picking the SoCal boys to win 2-0 over the NoCal boys.
Game Guide

Can Dallas put out the Fire?

No, it is that simple Dallas is struggling with just a single win in their last eight matches (1-5-2) and they have to face the leagues best defense, the Chicago Fire have only allowed 8 goals to be scored against them this year. The Fire will face off against 4 offensive threats from Dallas, forwards Cooper (6 goals, 1 assist), Oduro (4 goals, 1 assist), Alvarez (3 goals, 2 assists), and midfielder Andre Rocha (5 assists). But the Fire have their own firepower (get it) with Barrett (5 goals, 3 assists), Blanco (4 goals, 6 assists), Rolfe (2 goals, 2 assists), and Thorrington (3 goals, 1 assist). This one could be very exciting and it should be fun to listen to in Spanish, I have a feeling Chicago win this one 3-2 over Dallas in an entertaining match.
Game Guide

US vs. Barbados

Come on while this will be entertaining, coming off matches against England (#9), Spain (#4), and Argentina (#1) it will have to be a bit of a downer facing Barbados (#121) for the US national team as they start the qualifying process for the 2010 World Cup. At least this match, unlike the last 3 should see the US have no problem scoring goals. I am going to say that no US player will get a hat trick, but the US wins this one 6-1.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

This entry was posted on June 14, 2008 at 3:33 pm and is filed under The soapbox. 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.