RSL just can’t help themselves

On a weekend where almost every result went in RSL’s favor including last minute wins by San Jose and Chicago, Real Salt Lake did nothing. Nothing right, nothing impressive, nothing to help themselves, they missed opportunities, made defensive mistakes, failed to win the 50-50 balls, and have done themselves no favors as they sit out of the playoffs with 8 matches remaining. Having played 22 matches with a possible 66 points RSL have just 27 or just 40 percent of what was possible, if they need 42 to get into the playoffs then they will have to find a way to get 15 of the remaining 24 points, roughly two thirds or what remain. With just 4 more matches at home they will need to get at least a road win and possibly more if they should struggle at all at home. I thought they need 5-6 out of this weeks 3 matches and now they are forced to go for the win against Chivas at home on Wednesday and then they simply have to get a win against a struggling KC side on the road on Saturday. They then get a two week break, and to be honest their season will be dead in my opinion if they can’t come out with two wins before the two week break.

So I am working on my quarterly report card for RSL and with 3 matches in 7 days it will be a buy week, I hope to have the report card done before RSL heads off to Kansas City. One thing is clear with the defeat at New England and our position on the outside of the playoff race with just a 1 in 4 chance of making it into the playoffs, even with a win against Chivas we only move up to a 1 in 3 chance, so clearly the grade for the team will not be a good one.

I could go on about the performances of the players and the lackluster effort of some in recent weeks but I have covered that already and it is clear that while the thoughts that the squad was solid after the run last year has been off or something has changed. Is it that players have become complacent or is the strategy stale? Did too many players get rewarded for their efforts last year with new deals and are now resting easy? Has the policy of looking for good players who are good people failed? With 2 matches in the next couple days and then 6 over the last 2 months of the season, some great scheduling there MLS, we could be on pins and needles for a couple months or waiting for the hammer to fall.

This is the point that somebody steps up, when someone becomes the true leader of RSL, and I will be as honest as I can be that leader isn’t Kyle Beckerman. It isn’t that he doesn’t have what it takes, it is the fact that for whatever reason he simply lacks the heart. Where was he when his top striker was taken down in the box in what clearly should have been a penalty, where was he when Clint threw a tantrum and got a red card, in fact where was he when each of the meltdowns has happened? Nope he has all the talent and he has the fire to affect his own performance but he is clearly not the leader of this team and when he called out Yura Movsisyan who has shown more heart and passion since signing a contract to leave in the off season than anyone on the team in an interview with Goal.com. I am not sure who that leader will be, but without a commanding presence on the pitch that can keep control of the match and lead by passion, heart, energy, and effective play it seems to me that RSL may just be another contender for a top draft spot next year instead of a contender for MLS Cup.

Perhaps the solution is the biggest risk that Dave Checketts has ever taken on RSL, and actually putting his checkbook where his mouth is and getting Real Madrid to agree to a loan for Ruud Van Nistelrooy? Real Madrid is about to start their season and with Raul, Cristiano Ronaldo, Robben, and Higuain likely to be in front of him in the lineup it looks like his playing time will be limited to when others are injured. There has to be something to shake up the roster, to get the team back playing with some heart and I have to believe that this move would be much better than the desperation move made by KC, New York and I am sure others in the near future of getting rid of the coach. I don’t believe that the issue lies on the bench for RSL, or in the formation, I for one believe that it lies on the pitch with players who seem at times disinterested.

Oh well like many I can see the problems, I just am still holding out hope that someone would step up and take the lead. If not then this could get real ugly in a hurry (the next 5 days).

OFF MY SOAPBOX
“Audentis Fortuna Juvat” (Jason the time to get bold was a couple weeks ago, now we need even more)

This entry was posted on August 25, 2009 at 12:25 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.