June 28, 2009 by f4denz.

OK, something to keep you busy before the US vs. Brazil match. Here is the audio (raw-no edit) from the post match press conference with RSL head coach Jason Kreis Click Here

Here are some post match quotes from RSL players:

REAL SALT LAKE MIDFIELDER CLINT MATHIS

On the importance of tonight’s showing at Rio Tinto Stadium:

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re at home or on the road, it’s always important to get three points. But just to show the fans we’ve regrouped and that we’re back on track like at the beginning of the season. If we continue to play like this and be really hard to break down, not give up so many chances, I think we’ll be in the driver’s seat.”

On the reasons for his renaissance season for Real Salt Lake:

“I just feel good. I’m actually happy to play soccer here, and I think there were a few years where different circumstances were happening and I was almost thinking ‘What was I doing in the sport? It’s not making me happy,’ and I always said that I’d quit when I wasn’t happy.

“But I’ve found myself in a situation where I was given a shot with a great organization, great coaching staff, and great ownership. It makes a big difference when you’re out on the field to have those kinds of things surrounding you.”

REAL SALT LAKE FORWARD YURA MOVSISYAN

On the differences between his recent form and his struggles early in the season:

“I don’t think I was forcing things earlier, I just wasn’t getting lucky with some of the bounces. I think I’m doing the same thing, but now I’ve got a lot more confidence. It’s a game, sometimes things go your way and sometimes they don’t.”

On reasons for RSL’s recent turnaround:

“The important thing is everyone’s on the same page. All the players are fighting hard, and we’ve said since the beginning that if we can keep a zero we’re going to win games, and that’s what we’ve been doing.”

REAL SALT LAKE FORWARD KYLE BECKERMAN

On the keys to the team’s four-game undefeated streak:

“I think we’re getting back into form. The confidence is coming back, Yura [Movsisyan] is heating up, and we’re getting goals in timely parts of the game, and if you do that, you can go far.”

On playing with a lead:

“Anytime you go up in a game it’s going to help, it just takes a little pressure off. You’ve got your goal so you don’t need to score again and from there it’s about winning the game. They have to come out and expose themselves a little bit and then you can create more opportunities, and I think that’s what happened today.”

On the dividends since switching to the 4-3-3 formation:

“I think we’re kind of settling into this 4-3-3 really well. Maybe it suits our players a little bit better right now and we’re starting to get used to it. This is four games with it now, and we know that we can get a lot of good possession. We kind of know what to expect now, we believe it, and it shows with our confidence.”

So I am getting ready for a trip but I will try to post some pictures from the second half of the match before I leave this afternoon.

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June 28, 2009 by f4denz.

Well RSL proved again that they can use Rio Tinto as a huge advantage, after starting a bit flat they quickly turned things around and dominated most of the match with a 14 to 7 edge in shots taken, and a 8-2 lead in shots on goal. Yura’s goal in the 21st minute was impressive because he created his own opportunity by playing defense and took advantage to chip a great ball over the keeper, the team picked up both in spirits and in performance after that. Javi and Clint did a great job of setting up Kyle for his second goal of the season. I am going to stop at halftime because I only have had time to go through my first half pictures. Here are some of the highlights:

Tony again matches up with one of the top players in the league and handles himself very well

La Barra Real in form

The ball looks so go on the pitch

Yura working hard on the defensive end of the pitch

Fabi heading into the box

Yura on the run

The ball coming in from a Javi corner kick

And Kyle going head to head with Carl Robinson

A midfield scrum/wrestling match

Yura Chips the ball over the keeper

Yura hurdles the keeper

Yura celebrates his 4th goal in 4 matches

Tony makes another run forward, great match for number 2

It appears that Leo hurt his paw and had to be carted around tonight

De Ro wasn’t happy most of the night

Javi plays a great ball

Which Kyle put in the back of the net and did his eye patch tribute to the RCB

Maybe that call up to the US Gold Cup squad helped motivate Kyle

Not sure what the bow and arrow thing is about, but he was one happy camper

A great first half for RSL

I will post more pictures later on Sunday. I will be out of town on Monday and Tuesday so if any of you want to write up something, just email it to me at roguecavaliers@comcast.net

Until then I am

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June 27, 2009 by f4denz.

Well if you remember back to the Colorado match the first of May and how poorly the officiating was by Edvin Jurisevic in his 5th match as a head official, well guess what? He’s back and with just one more match under his belt, can Edvin do a better job this time? While the MLS has had plenty of officiating issues this year, and it seems like RSL has featured in many of them, our biggest issue is call ups for national team duty and injuries.

One bit of news on that front is that Andy Williams will not be joining the Jamaican national team for the Gold Cup, with so many family issues he is choosing to stay close to home, this move creates relief for fans, teammates and staff. This also gives RSL a great option for the 4-3-3 either in the starting lineup or off the bench when a offensive spark is needed, Andy is always exciting to watch.

Here are the projected lineups from the Game Guide

It appears that the injuries to Robbie Findley and Fabian Espindola will keep both out of the starting lineup, but we know that lineups often change at the last minute. I am hoping that Andy’s decision to stay with RSL will perhaps bring him into the starting lineup to give RSL an offensive push against TFC. Last year each team won their home leg of the series and all time TFC has a 2-1-1 advantage when facing RSL.

There are a couple numbers that really seem to provide RSL with an advantage first is when TFC allows goals and the second is Toronto’s goal deficit on the road and RSL’s huge goal surplus at home. TFC have given up 9 goals in the first 30 minutes of matches, RSL only 5 in the first 30 minutes, and despite the fact that RSL has given up 5 goals after the 75th minute of matches Toronto has given up 7 (the same number RSL have scored after the 75th minute). Toronto is a team that has scored most of their goals, 11 of 21, in minutes 46-76, while RSL has 6 in the first half and 13 in the second half.

The second issue is the fact that TFC has allowed 12 goals in their 5 road matches, but you have to remember they have scored 9 goals as well including 3 in their season opening win at KC, and 3 in a draw at DC United. TFC has played hewer road games than any other team in MLS with just 5 and are 1-2-2 in those matches, while RSL is 3-1-2 at home. For RSL playing at Rio Tinto is special and only once this year have they been shut out(KC L 0-2), and only once have they scored just once(Col T 1-1), so in their other 4 matches RSL has scored at total of 14 goals for an average of 3.5 per match.

The most threatening part of the TFC lineup is their midfield, Guevara might be a head case but his 5 goals and 4 assists have to have him in the MVP race as MLS hits the middle of the season, the relocated DeRo adds in 5 more goals and a assist, and Sam Cronin adds another goal and two more assists. So 11 goals and 7 assists from those 3 players, roughly half of the TFC offensive stats come from them and when you consider that one has to wonder if RSL head coach Jason Kreis is tempted to go back to the 4-4-2 in order to provide some more defensive grit? Even more when you consider that Jamison Olave is suspended for the match.

For RSL the threat doesn’t end in the midfield, while Chad Barrett may only have two goals and two assists so far this season he has scored 3 goals against RSL in just 326 minutes of action, he is one of only 4 Current TFC players to ever have scored against RSL; Dwayne De Rosario has 2 goals and 4 assists in 11 matches against RSL, Amado Guevara has 2 goals and 2 assists in the 6 matches he has played against RSL, and Adrian Serioux has a single goal and single assist in his 4 matches against RSL.

One upside is the Nick Rimando has a 1.00 GAA when facing TFC, but RSL has just 3 all time goals against TFC, one each from Findley, Movsisyan, and Olave. The RSL offensive effort will be facing Stefan Frei who since becoming the starter has a 1.48 GAA and 3 shutouts, not too bad for the 13th pick in the 2009 draft. If Tino Nunez gets the start it will be his 3rd start and a great chance to add to his 280 minutes of MLS action, it is just Tino’s second year since being drafted in second round(17th overall) of the 2008 draft.

The backline for TFC features some great players but with 2nd year defender Nana Attakora-Gyan who plays both midfield and defense lining up next to Nick Garcia who came to TFC just weeks ago from San Jose there might be a chance to take advantage of players not used to playing with each other yet. The other side features Jim Brennan and Adrian Serioux, who joined TFC from FC Dallas in the offseason, both are solid veterans.

Head coach Jason Kreis said in an interview that “A win against Toronto is a necessity”, and I agree with him, this is the middle of the season for RSL and a win would put them at 5-6-4 and 19 points. Those numbers aren’t bad but the early season struggles on the road have hurt RSL in the standings but it is a long season and with a good home stretch 5 of their next 7 are at home, this is the chance to move up the standings and get closer to securing a playoff spot for a second straight year.

So this should be an exciting match as it will likely provide some RSL players with a chance to crack the starting lineup and see if they can impress both staff and fans, and maybe just secure more playing time. TFC is coming in feeling good about themselves after back to back wins over New York, but they have struggled on the road and despite a couple rough home matches RSL has been a dominating team at Rio Tinto, this one ends up 3-1 RSL.

Other Predictions

New York 0 - Columbus 2
Colorado 1 - Seattle 2
Houston 2 - LA 0
Brazil 2 - USA 1

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June 25, 2009 by f4denz.

Well one thing will be sure for this weekend’s matchup with TFC, RSL will be missing a lot of players. Gone on suspension Jamison Olave, gone for Gold Cup duty with their national teams; Jean Alexandre (Haiti) and Will Johnson (Canada), and gone for next weekend’s match up with San Jose on July 3rd will be, Kyle Beckerman (USA) and Andy Williams (Jamaica). Injuries are hitting our forwards as much as national team call ups are hitting our midfield, with Fabian Espindola, and Robbie Findley all are listed as questionable for the match on Saturday and rumors are that Luis Miguel Escalada has been released from the team (a move I think is a mistake). Meanwhile Nat Borchers, Ian Joy and Robbie Russell are listed as probable.

One of the most shocking announcements this week is the fact that the Canadian Gold Cup roster doesn’t include Dwayne De Rosario (52 caps and 15 goals) wasn’t included, in fact the only TFC player on the team is Ali Gerba, but Sam Cronin was named to the US roster. TFC is listing O’Brian White (their 4th round 2009 draft pick) as out, while Amado Guevara and Adrian Serious are listed as questionable.

So what would I do? Well a lot will depend on injury updates and any additional national team call ups for either team, but assuming that one of our two injured strikers is available and that no more players are called up for national team duty, here is my lineup:

Rimando
Wingert-Russell-Borchers-Beltran
Beckerman-Williams-Morales
Mathis-Movsisyan-Findley or Espindola

I went with Andy over Ned at least to start, because I would rather see us take the aggressive and attacking approach at least for the first 45 minutes. In the past few matches with the 4-3-3 lineup Tony Beltran has pushed up as often as possible into the midfield, but with Olave out and a very good outside attacking team in Toronto I would have Tony stay back a bit more and support Kyle in the defensive effort. A major key will be putting TFC on their heels as quickly as possible, so we will need to bust out the attack early and often to keep TFC focused on defending and chasing the ball. This means a style much more like the LA match than the Houston match.

Scenario number one has RSL taking an early lead and being up at the half, knowing that Andy will be going on national team duty and hasn’t played a full 90 I bring in Ned at the half and use him to shore up the midfield and defensive efforts, to keep the offensive threat, I let Tony start moving up and attacking more. At 75 if we are still ahead I bring in Tino Nunez to spell Espindola or Findley since neither is 100% and use Tino’s ability to control the ball to help RSL withstand the TFC attack which will step up as they look to capture a point on the road. At 80-85 I bring in Cox to spell Mathis and add some defensive bite for the remainder of the match.

Scenario number two sees RSL even or behind at the half, I stick with my lineup until the 60th minute and if still even or behind I see if Findley or Espindola (whoever doesn’t start) is fit enough to step in and boost the attack as I pull Williams. If neither is on the bench or healthy enough, then I put a lot of faith in Nunez, who has always looked solid to me and with LME gone he must have impressed someone enough on the staff to let Luis go. I also let Tony know that it is time to push up and look to help create some chances, if we still don’t have a lead at 75 then I bring in Nunez or whoever is left on the bench and able to give me 15 solid minutes. If at 80-85 we are still even or behind, then I have to pull Wingert or Russell and go to a 3-4-3 in order to create some more chances and bring in Grabavoy to give us some fresh legs.

Either scenario has one simple principle, keep the ball, pass sharply and make TFC chase, it won’t be too warm (80 is the forecast) but we can use the elevation and fact that TFC isn’t used to playing on real grass to wear them down. This will be an interesting match as TFC appears to be playing better after losses to Houston on the road and LA at home, they have two straight MLS wins and have moved up to second in the East. One has to remember that their last two wins both come over a very bad New York side, in fact New York’s 10 points and 27 goals allowed are the worst in MLS.

So perhaps the recent wins aren’t quite what people think, one thing is sure that TFC is again making a lot of midseason moves. One of last years bright spots for TFC was Rohan ricketts, who was released last week. Also gone is Johann Smith, Greg Sutton and Kevin Harmse was traded to Chivas, but they have brought in Ali Gerba and Nick Garcia, so it looks like another year of TFC making a lot of move trying to find the pieces that fit.

Roster issues?

Speaking of finding the pieces that fit, I wish that the communications between RSL and Luis Miguel Escalada had worked out better. He is a talented player but I think the mentality of having to work very hard in practice to get playing time was hard for a former star player to understand. So with an open roster spot, what does RSL do? The transfer window opens on July 15th and is the visit of Club America a chance to look at some talent? There are a lot of clubs with a lot of players and given the worldwide financial troubles, a lot of clubs are letting players go? Since the announcement of Bill Manning that RSL was finally starting to see some profits as a club a few weeks ago, perhaps the time to look for a DP is closer at hand than we have been lead to believe?

So what are our needs? Our defense still looks sound as we are close to getting a healthy Ian Joy back, and hopefully Olave will get his head back into the game, but not a lot of depth. Our midfield is stacked with guys like Williams, Grabavoy, Cox, and Alexandre sitting in the wings, so I wouldn’t focus here. Forwards, I know that Jason believes that we don’t need a 10 goal scorer but with a number of guys like Mathis, Johnson, Williams all more suited to the midfield or creative positions, we now have just 4 real strikers on the roster with Findley, Movsisyan, Espindola, and Nunez. Injuries could be a problem as all of our strikers missed time in the last 12 months with injuries, RSL could do with a real impact striker.

Where do you look for a player? Most quality players in Europe are simply too expensive for RSL, US players that are playing in Europe that want to come back to the states? There are issues there with MLS allocations and such that complicate those types of moves. Do we follow the example of other teams and look to Africa where talent abounds and players can still be found at a reasonable price? What about the South America connections, some hits Morales, Olave and Espindola, but others have not done so well. Perhaps we look beyond Columbia and Argentina to other nations like Brazil which seems to have so much talent that their players impact leagues around the globe? So I have some ideas that I will share over the next couple weeks as we get closer to the July 15th transfer window opening, but ask yourself this, What Would You Do?

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June 24, 2009 by f4denz.

For RSL this Saturday’s matchup against Toronto will mark the midpoint of their season and the numbers don’t like a win would bring us to 20 points at the mid season point and would put RSL ahead of any of the previous 4 seasons. 20 points at the midseason mark is good it is halfway to the playoffs, 40 points was the magic number in 2007 and 39 was the number in 2008.

So with the midseason mark just a few days away, let’s look at a few things, first up the standings:

We are 12 points behind the top of the conference (and MLS) Houston, and 4 points behind Rocky Mountain Cup rival Colorado (with 2 games in hand). There are 4 matches for RSL before the All Star Match, the upside for RSL is that 3 of them are at home (TFC, San Jose, FC Dallas), so there are points to be had and if RSL is going to move up the standings they will need to beat the teams beneath them.

So let’s take a look at goals for and goals against comparison to past RSL seasons

So the 19 goals scored by RSL in their first 14 matches is the best in the team’s history, but not by much, and the 17 goals allowed again is a best for the team but again not by much. I think the thing that impresses me most about the 19 goals scored is that 11 players have scored for RSL, the most disappointing is that only 3 players (Robbie-6, Yura-3, Olave-2) have multiple goals.

So how does RSL stack up against the rest of the MLS in these stats?

RSL despite their 6-0 win over New England, and 4-1 win over Columbus rank only in the middle of the MLS when it comes to offensive power.

Only 4 teams have allowed fewer goals than MLS and each of them is in the West, and 3 of those teams have scored more goals than RSL (Houston, Seattle, and Colorado), one only has to imagine that if Nick Rimando had been healthy all year, if RSL could have played with 11 men in each match, that those defensive numbers might just be a little better.

All season long I have looked at the numbers and while I expected a better start, none of the numbers is greatly surprising as we are just one point behind last year’s total after 14 matches going into a stretch with 3 of 4 at home and if we can get 8 points out of those matches we will be a point ahead of last year’s total heading into the All Star Match, 10 points in those matches would have us equal to our total in week 21 of last season.

I am going to end with a look at our playoff chances, once again thanks to sportsclubstats.com

The draw against the best team in MLS didn’t give us as much of a boost as I would have hoped for and we are still under a 50% chance of making the playoffs, a win on Saturday would boost us up to almost 60% depending on other results.

Well there you have the numbers for this week, well almost all the numbers.

How about 2-0? Come on after a 3-1 loss to Italy, a 3-0 loss to Brazil, we all gave up hope and just wanted a decent showing against Egypt. Nobody was predicting a 3 goal outburst by the US, we had only scored one goal in the tourney and it was a PK. Then when Brazil did us a favor by beating Italy by that same margin, the deciding factor was the numbers, the goals for gave the US a 4-3 advantage over Italy and enough to make it to the quarterfinals. Then Spain, really, wasn’t it enough to have to face the number 4 (Italy), number 5 (Brazil), and number 40 (Egypt) teams in the world? Why couldn’t we get number 72 South Africa, nope we get to face the best team in the world, no losses in over a year more than 30 matches without a loss. I haven’t watched the match yet, but people couldn’t help telling me the score and beating the number one team in the world 2-0 is simply stunning and perhaps the biggest upset for US soccer in decades, well until we go to Mexico City in August and beat them 2-0.

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