August 29, 2008 by f4denz.

A must win for both teams

With the Western conference being so very close and the teams of the East putting up lots of points, I believe only the 3 guaranteed playoffs spots for the top 3 team will come from the West, so every point is very important but these are precious. First consider that RSL is still crap on the road, there is no other way to say it, but no team in the West has won more than two matches on the road (three teams in the East have at least 4 road wins). Add into that there is a 1 point gap between second and third in the West, but only a 3 point gap between second and sixth, and only a 5 point gap between second and last in the West, so every chance to score points is important, and doubly important when you can keep another Western team from scoring points. Six of RSL’s last nine matches are against Western conference teams with half of them on the road.

Colorado is in the same boat they have 6 of their last 9 matches against Western conference foes, but only two of their match ups are at home. With 24 points a win against RSL would jump the Rapids right back into playoff contention, but they have a huge number of things standing in their way. First is the injury bug, the following players are listed as out for the match: Ballouchy, Cooke, Hughes, Ihemelu, Mastroeni, and Dalby. Three players are listed as probable, Harvey, Burciaga Jr, and Peterson. Colorado has two players that will be suspended with their next yellow card, but only Colin Clark will be seeing action, as Pablo is already listed as out.

Colorado is also dealing with the recent change in head coach, no longer is the dapper dandy Fernando Clavijo in charge, but now Gary Smith is at the helm of the team and nobody was surprised at the change. Gary Smith still is labeled as the interim coach, but has European coaching and playing experience and he has his hands full with a very injury plagued team. Colorado has lost three of their last four matches; including two loses at home and have scored only two goals in their last four matches (both in a 2-1 win over KC).

Real Salt Lake is getting healthier and only Nathan Sturgis is listed as out, but I don’t expect Dema will be in the 18 considering he was unable to practice with the team on Thursday. While listed as questionable Beltran and Joy both practiced with the team and appeared that they were ready to be included in the 18 man roster. But unless RSL can shake the rust and apathy that was rampant in last weekends lost to Columbus, they will be hard pressed to take advantage of the less than stellar Rapids lineup.

I would expect that former Rapids players Kyle Beckerman and Chris Wingert will step up their performances as they face off against their former team, perhaps this could be the boost of energy RSL needs to get them back into the win column after a barn burner in Houston and the season’s worst performance last weekend against Columbus. I think the most interesting match up of the night could be Robbie Findley vs. Cory Gibbs, can the former US national defender do well against someone who likely get some national team exposure soon in his career?

If RSL want to keep the Rocky Mountain Cup, then they will need a big performance tonight as they already trail in the competition as a result of their 0-2 defeat earlier this year at the Dick. A big win tonight will be needed as the third match in this rivalry will be played on the last day of the regular MLS season and once again it will be played at the Dick.

I think the boys looked good in practice and want to accomplish a couple things tonight, first regain the trust of the fans after a couple rough losses, then defend their record at home, where they are the only unbeaten team on their home field, and finally get 3 very important points towards securing a playoff spot for the first time in team history. A couple weeks ago RSL proved they could score early and score often as they put up 3 goals against the West’s best team Houston; tonight they face a Rapids team that has allowed 30 goals to be scored against them this season, and 21 of them while playing on the road.

I am going out on a limb and will predict a 3-1 victory for RSL with goals from Beckerman and two from Findley as RSL controls this match from start to finish in their best 90 minute performance of the year.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

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August 29, 2008 by f4denz.

I got a chance to watch Real Salt Lake practice this morning at RES and I noticed a couple of things that I think are very interesting. While Chris Seitz was left off the US roster for their upcoming World Cup qualifying matches, that isn’t a huge surprise but not sure where he was today because he wasn’t at practice, and he isn’t listed as injured. Could there be some future move or trade involving Seitz, who knows but strange that he wasn’t there.

Dema was there but did not practice he was receiving treatment on his injured calf and I would not expect him in the 18 for the match against Colorado, I can tell you all one thing, he is not happy that he can’t be playing. Beltran and Joy are both listed as questionable, but they did practice and both of them looked good. Ian is one intense guy and doesn’t like not winning even at practice, which is something I like to see.

While everyone looked like they were working hard, nobody worked harder than coach Robin Fraser, who took lap after lap around the field prior to team practice starting, impressive display of fitness. I thought it was a good statement about the state of RSL when practice started these two pictures show what happened:

Pre Training Pep talk

Like a scene out of Remember the Titans

I thought the energy level was high and for many the skill level appears to be returning after the long layoff that left a lot of rust that showed up the last two matches. I do expect that we will probably see Will Johnson in the 18 on Friday night and he appears to be very fit.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

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