Some thoughts about RSL, the All Star Match and the return of Golden Balls
Well I am still soaking in how much fun the Real Salt Lake vs. Club America match was, a beautiful night at Rio Tinto and some very passionate fans on both sides of the aisle. I was a bit disappointed that not as many RSL fans showed up as normal, I would say about 5-6,000 of the 17,000 plus crowd were there to see RSL which did put our team at a slight disadvantage but as has been the case all year they played to the level of their competition. With just 17 players on the roster and 3 of them keepers, it was clear that RSL was short handed but when the starting lineup featured most of the RSL starters from the last couple weeks it became clear that there would be no excuses.
Now we head to Columbus this weekend and this is not the same Crew team we faced off against in week 2 of our season, nope they are now just a single point out of first place in the East but if they were in the West they would be tied for 6th place. The Crew are one of just 3 teams that are still undefeated at home, they are 4-0-4 with 13 goals scored and 9 allowed, but with Chad Marshall and Robbie Rogers both with the US team and GBS listed as questionable with a hamstring injury, and Ekpo on yellow card suspension, they will find themselves with a lot in common with RSL.
We will still be without Beckerman, Johnson, Alexandre, all on national team duty in the Gold Cup, Espindola is suspended for his Red Card on July 3rd, and likely still without Andy Williams, that means that the now 21 man RSL roster will likely have only 16 players, or 13 field players. This is a huge disadvantage for RSL but given the grit and determination they showed against Club America, I am not going to question their heart or intensity, but this will be a match were everyone is asked to do more and to do it better.
All Star Update
So I had to admit I found humor in people being upset that no RSL players were named in the first 11 All Star players, heck when you look at the numbers no RSL player made the top 20 and given the teams position near the bottom of the Western Conference I am not surprised at all. Today it was announced that Dwayne De Rosario would be unable to take part in the All Star match due to TFC’s Champions Cup match, he will be replaced by Blanco, which is no surprise but that still leaves the head coach of the MLS side with 5 more players that he can chose and I expect that he will chose the following:
Pat Onstad - GK - Houston
Ricardo Clark - M - Houston
Brian McBride - F - Chicago or Freddy Montero - F - Seattle
Jimmy Conrad - D - KC
Brad Davis - M - Houston
Yes I expect him to bring a number of his players with him, and to be honest Brad Davis is the top assist man in MLS, Pat Onstad is the top keeper in MLS, and Ricardo Clark is a monster in the midfield who showed well in the Confederations Cup and has to be considered one of the top midfielders in MLS.
So that will leave two picks for “The Don” and we know that he is likely to bring his Golden Balls with him as one pick, but you have to believe that if Kinnear doesn’t pick a RSL player, that Clint Mathis or Robbie Findley will get picked. Dominic makes his picks next Monday and I believe “the Don” makes his shortly after. I would expect a couple injuries or players who might have been on a lot of national team duty may end up being replaced, I do expect that at least one RSL player will make the real All Star roster. With the current CBA, there actually will be 30 All Stars picked but only 18 will dress for the match.
The Return
So I have no intention on reading The Beckham Experiment which cracked the top 100 on Amazon today when it was released, I don’t care what a SI writer has to say on the topic. I have seen the impact, more LA jerseys sold than ever before, LA matches on TV more, LA matches selling more tickets at home and on the road, and the fact that a book was written tells me all I need to know about the experiment.
Listen David is simply the world’s most recognizable football player, he has never been the most talented player but has made some of the most memorable plays in recent history for club and country. I saw a league bend to give him opportunities to showcase himself, I saw him make two incredible plays last year when he visited Salt Lake City. He is an icon of the sport for a lot of good and some not so good reasons, you can hate him for wanting to go back to Europe to play and for not coming back at the start of the MLS season like he originally said he would, but his motivation is bigger than the LA Galaxy. He is shooting for a spot on the 2010 World Cup team, and he will be the face of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, and eventually he will be a owner or part owner of a MLS franchise, all much loftier goals than the first half of the LA Galaxy season. He is a prima donna, but name many multi-millionaire athletes who aren’t? He stepped into one of the top teams in Europe without missing a beat, and contributed to AC Milan’s season which fell just shy of catching Inter.
He will get boo’d all around the league by soccer fans, the women and girls will cheer him as they always have, and the game will go on. The one dynamic that will be the focus of my attention is how is he received by his teammates, a lot of issues seem to be surfacing between him and the other LA princess (LandyCakes), but my question is how will the young players like Gonzalez, and DeLaGarza respond?
Only time will tell if he will be able to help the team make the playoffs, as he steps into the lineup on Thursday, the Galaxy are a playoff team and with just 13 matches left in the 2009 MLS season will he be a contributor or a distraction?
OK tomorrow will be a look at the numbers, and while RSL didn’t play a league match last weekend a number of things have changed as the rest of the league went on with action, until then I am
OFF MY SOAPBOX
This entry was posted on July 14, 2009 at 11:27 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.