Real Salt Lake 4 – FC Dallas 2 (quick thoughts)
July 25, 2009 by f4denz.
So if you are a regular reader of this blog you know I always try to look for the positive, I try to believe that RSL can and will live up to the high expectations of the fans, but last night I quit. I quit believing that the players cared as much as the fans, I quit believing that RSL truly was a team with the talent and heart to be a playoff team, and I sure quit believing the statement on the “season ticket holder scarves”. No more “Audentis Fortuna Juvat”, because for the first 45 minutes RSL looked anything but bold, as players walked both when RSL had the ball and when FCD was attacking, players stood hands on hips like they were tired or worse, sloppy passing and bickering between teammates had me on the verge of walking out of the stadium. Something I have never considered, but I waited for a couple reasons and none of them were related to the team, I thought without a first half goal that the match was as good as over.
I am not sure what was said in the locker room by Jason, other staff members, or the players but something changed. Was it motivation, desperation, passion, fear, or something else? Only the next couple weeks will let us know for sure, but Jason lost the tie at halftime (not sure if he tired to strangle anyone with it or not) and he rolled up his sleeves a bit higher and did what he has done in the past in desperate situations, he went bold. He changed the lineup, after losing Robbie Russell early in the first half and bringing in Tony Beltran, he made a second move by taking out defensive midfielder Ned Grabavoy and replaced him with an injured Yura Movsisyan (a slight ankle sprain).
Now all over the blogosphere and soccer boards people have said that we should have dumped Yura as soon as he signed with Randers FC, since he wouldn’t play hard and couldn’t have any heart left for RSL, I mean he signed with a different team. It is interesting that Jason and Yura’s teammates have expressed nothing but confidence in him, and after last night as Yura got his 5th and 6th goals of the season to spark the RSL second half rally I really hope I don’t hear anymore of that bullshit. Yura not only played with a ankle injury, on the first play in the second half he was tackled hard outside of the box and injured his wrist, but did he wave to the staff to take him out, hell no. He got up and played on, his energy and spark helped pick up the energy of the whole team as Robbie’s runs became more effective and even the awful passing night for Fabi improved. Yes it was a failed Fabi pass that was deflected in by former RSL player Daniel Torres to give us a 3-2 lead.
If Yura getting a goal just 10 minutes into the second half and the controversial PK call that Robbie finished so well weren’t enough to motivate their fellow teammates, perhaps nothing was bigger than Nick Rimando making a huge save on the 71st minute Jeff Cunningham PK attempt. You could see the confidence and energy that the team got from that save and from the crowd finally getting into the match, they cheer after goals but wow if we could create that level of energy for longer periods of time maybe the team would respond more often. Now I don’t know what Jeff Cunningham might have said as he trotted past the bench after giving Dallas an early 1-0 lead, but the bad blood between him and Jason is well known.
If you don’t think that PK save was big watch the highlights of the match here and see Jason reaction, what is unknown (but I have heard a couple versions) is what Jason said to/about Jeff after the miss. It was enough to cause some confusion and the eventual red card ejection of head coach Jason Kreis, now I know Jason is a passionate guy but given the rash of silly red cards and ejections this team has suffered this year, he needs make sure he runs some extra laps in practice this week, as he should have set a better example. I will give him a bit of leeway on this one but he knows better.
RSL kept up great pressure and you could tell that this match wasn’t going to end in a tie, as RSL pushed up with just about everyone except Nick and went from 4 shots in the first half to 13 in the second half, from one shot on goal in the first half to 6 in the second. Either Dallas was going to get a great counter and take a lead or RSL would find a way to convert, some big saves by the defense which played awful in the first half and great runs and long balls by the forwards and midfielders kept the last 20 minutes exciting for the fans.
After the missed pass was deflected in for the 3-2 lead with just minutes to go and stoppage time, I knew RSL would get another as the energy and heart of this team was starting to show. Sure enough it was a great breakaway by Yura to secure the 4th RSL goal of the night and secure the much needed 3 points at home.
I apologize to the team and staff, I should know better than to doubt, I should have enough faith in our team to know that even when they fall down they tend to get up swinging more often than not. If I had the confidence to not question the heart and dedication of Yura for the rest of this season, I should have had that same confidence that we would play better in the second half. I can only say that I will not doubt again as we make our run to the playoffs and beyond.
I will be rewatching the match later tonight and will do a more complete match review, I will also being going through my pictures from last night. The next few days will be very exciting for RSL and soccer fans in Utah as there are some great events going along with the MLS All-Star match, and I have received credentials to cover all the events. I will be taking a few days off from work to do so and plan on making several posts each day. Tomorrow I will go over a list of the events happening around the match, and a look at some of the very cool merchandise (I don’t like all of it) that is available as part of the promotion and celebration of the match. Until then
OFF MY SOAPBOX
“Audentis Fortuna Juvat”