Sunday Morning practice for Real Salt Lake
July 27, 2008 by f4denz.
Well since practices are either scheduled for times when I am working, or are at locations I can’t normally get to easily the chance to stop by a practice at RES on a warm Sunday morning was something too good to pass up. So the 10 am practice actually started a bit early and players were divided into a couple groups, not a lot of rhyme or reason to the groups but it appeared that it was a good mix of first and second string and it was nice to see Robbie Russell out there practicing.
Kyle and Yura
Javi and Fabian
Robbie Russell takes a shot
Tino works on Nat
Robbie comes to help Nat out
Dema and Jamison
Kenny’s shot goes a bit high
Yura and Ian trying to beat the heat after practice
Caught and punished
So practice was short just over an hour, with a lot of 5 on 5 and finishing drills. Even in a short practice you could see that the players as well as the coaching staff were taking things seriously. A good healthy completion was clear as the 5 man teams rotated to see who would come out on top of a mini 4 team tourney. Adam Acosta who played the as the “middle” man for both sides in one set of matches looked good and actually had more finishes than any other single player. Robin Fraser was the “middle” man in the other set of matches and he looked good and I joked with him after to see if his coming out of coaching to fill in a roster spot was the other upcoming player announcement. He laughed and mentioned that he isn’t sure too many players would want to be on the pitch with him, I think he might be surprised, but he may be on the receiving end of some friendly fire tackles.
Robbie Russell looked good and in speaking with him afterwards he seems very excited to be here and even while getting settled in he already likes Salt Lake City, and he should be in the 18 for tomorrows match against TFC.
Over all it was an enjoyable way to spend a morning and the team looks relaxed and ready for the match. It was nice to see a couple members of the local media at the practice to do a couple interviews. I will post my match preview and prediction either later this evening or early on Monday.
OFF MY SOAPBOX