What’s wrong with Real Salt Lake?
In what I believe is our worst performance of the year, we got out played for a full 90 minutes and outscored 3-0 by the Columbus Crew. Now I understand this is a much improved Crew team than in years past, but come on the only match this year that even comes close to being this bad was the early season 4-1 defeat by DC United. At least two weeks ago against Houston we scored, we attacked and for segments of the match we controlled the ball, and the pace of the match, but this match at Columbus has me worried about a lot of things.
Depth, or the lack of depth in our midfield, along with a recent string of subpar performances by our midfield players is my biggest concern. Kyle started the season being a major force in the offense with his two goals against DC United, and then adding another against FC Dallas, but in the last 90 days, the last 14 matches, there has been nothing. If Kyle isn’t comfortable in his current position then let’s move him to d-mid where he can again be a monster on the pitch and help shut down other teams. Then we have Javi, who has been a real surprise this season his 8 assists are tied for second best in the league with Beck’s and Jaime Moreno, but there are matches where either he simply doesn’t show up or the other team is so effective at marking him that it is like he isn’t there. He is our highest paid player, and the reality is that if we want to get his services long term that it will cost a lot of money for a transfer fee and possibly even move him into a DP slot. I am not sure based on his road performance if making him the center of our team is the right decision, Blanco, Beck’s, Donovan, GBS, these players play as well on the road as they do at home, in fact some of them are better on the road.
Now I know that injuries have hampered our midfield with Sturgis being out for a huge part of the season with a nagging hamstring injury, we have to allow him time to heal, and perhaps spend some quality time in the gym adding a bit of strength and muscle to his frame, which should make him less injury prone. I still think a RSL source hit it on the head that he has all the talent in the world, but MLS is a hard physical league and you have to adjust, the example they used was Kyle Beckerman who after several years on the bench and injured finally matured into a MLS player and to be honest he is an All Star player in most peoples books. Dema has been hurt the past few weeks with what is being called a calf strain, and this has been the player whose absence I believe has really hurt RSL the most in the last two matches. Dema is a pitbull on the pitch; he fights for everything and is willing to call out anyone on his team who isn’t putting in the same effort. I am hoping that his injury is healed and he gets back to practicing and playing very soon, we simply are not the same team without him.
Kenny Cutler, oh ginger ninja, I am sorry but the speed simply isn’t there, not even close to what we need from a midfielder who is going to try to push forward and then come back on defense. I watched out of position Kenny caused our defense to have to play out of position and the end result has been scoring chances and goals, and watching him simply get run by several times against Columbus was painful. If we have to play Kenny due to injuries, I get it but his role has be very defined, he is a d-mid and he stays at midfield or in the defensive half of the pitch, he simply hasn’t displayed the ability to get back and cover his defensive responsibilities when he tries to be part of the attack.
Andy, listen I love this guy, he is always trying something and the simple reality is that you saw the difference in the first half against Houston when Andy was in the match and part of the midfield vs. the first half against Columbus when he wasn’t. I know very often when players are facing issues in their personal lives that their on field performance improves as they have a small window of time where they can escape the other issues, and with his national team needing him and his not only answering that call but excelling as Jamaica make a push to get a World Cup spot, we will not always be able to count on a full 90 from Andy. I say any Andy we can get is better than not having him.
Clint, nice to have you back, and I mean it. I think Clint, the new Clint, the new team first, I know my role, I understand my role, that Clint Mathis could be exactly what this team needs, and after not playing for several months he will take a little time to get match fit. But as injuries continue we need to make some shake ups in our midfield and I for one would love to see a Andy- Javi- Kyle-Clint lineup against Colorado on Friday night if Dema is unable to go. That lineup should be able to provide the possession and speed to control the match and when needed get back on defense to assist our back line and prevent breakaways.
OK, Time for work, so more to follow, we still have to deal with our defense or lack of defense over the last two weeks, it is clear that it wasn’t just Olave that makes the difference, and then how to create scoring chances (our two shots on goal against the Crew came from a midfielder and a defender) but for now I am.
OFF MY SOAPBOX
This entry was posted on August 25, 2008 at 9:23 am 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.