November 5, 2009 by f4denz.

I have to admit for a minute, I panicked I wondered what would happen when we went down a second goal on the road and like I said would RSL play like they did in Dallas or New England weeks ago or fight like they did against Houston and TFC? Well it was answered and the for Real Salt Lake it is clear that

To pull off a 3-2 win over Columbus at home after beating them 1-0 at home simply shows that while the struggle on the road during the regular season is known but in the two road playoff matches in RSL history we are undefeated and believe it or not that trend will continue as we are on our way to Seattle to bring home the trophy and earn the star to go above our logo.

I am impressed but what might make it even more impressive is that I honestly thought that several players had very mediocre matches. I am not going into it now but let me say that tomorrow I will post a match review and I may just break some news that will rock RSL to it’s very foundations. Oh yes tonight is the biggest road match in RSL history but there is more to come.

OFF MY SOAPBOX
1 win to Seattle, 2 wins to the star.

Posted in The soapbox | 8 Comments »

November 5, 2009 by f4denz.

So who would have picked there to be 4 goals in the first half? Well many may have picked RSL going down two goals but who would have guessed they would have answered on the road with a great goal just minutes after the defensive collapse of Robbie Russell? Many may have thought that Toledo would have called a PK, but who would have picked it to go in RSL’s favor? What an amazing half and now we have to wonder what will happen in the second half, can RSL pull off some more last minute magic?

Holy crap, as Julie said a few minutes ago on facebook. Yes we can, Yes we can!

Posted in The soapbox | 4 Comments »

November 5, 2009 by f4denz.

So when you look around MLS and around the US media landscape you see a very unique thing happening in Salt Lake City, newspapers (and to a lesser extent TV) that cover Major League Soccer. Heck only Seattle probably has more people covering a MLS side than does Salt Lake, but sometimes it really is a mixed blessing.

You get a former GM who posted a dismal record while in charge questioning the team’s performance, Steve you are a hell of a nice guy but really how many times did your team make the playoffs? How many times did your team end more goals scored than allowed? Just a hint 2005 we ended with a -35 goal differential, 2006 was a huge improvement to just -4. It is easy to sit back and snipe, but remember you were in charge in 2005 when the road record was 0-14-2.

Then you get Michael Lewis at the Trib, who I like and think is a great guy but when on the eve of a playoff match writes an article in which he makes statements like:

When Real Salt Lake made its surprising playoff run last season, it validated management’s roster renovation and created the reasonable expectation that the team would improve even more the longer it played together.
So, what now?
The team spent all season effectively disproving that theory

We were the most dominant team in MLS at home, and while we struggled on the road to claim that this year’s squad isn’t better is simply wrong, fewer goals against, more goals scored and more wins, yes more losses, yes the 3^rd worst road record in the league, but I would say that the team has improved but one can question if they have been as effective as they were expected to be. The very best road team in MLS had 6 road wins, the defending MLS champs only posted 4 road wins. I could count this up to trying to be balanced and his statements are his opinion that he is entitled to, but then near the end of the article he makes this statement:

After all, the team really hasn’t done anything yet.

It basically backed into the playoffs, and its victory over the Crew in the first leg of the series was simply a continuation of what it already had been able to do — win at home. The Crew played without two of their best players, too, and Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Alejandro Moreno are expected to return to the lineup tonight.

You are right, nothing but qualify for the playoffs for the second straight year (unlike LA, DC United, or Colorado), really and backed into the playoffs, I love that perspective. How when you win the match you need to win are you backing in? If we had lost our last two matches and gotten in then you would have backed in, oh wait that is the mighty Crew that did that. We had to win to have a shot and a lot of other teams could have gotten in my winning but they didn’t and to think we should in any way feel that we didn’t deserve our spot is just stupid. Mentioning that the Crew decided to not play offensive and not play to win at Rio Tinto as something we could control again is simply not living in the real world. We went out against the MLS defender of the year, and a team playing a defensive formation and lineup and got a win against the best team in MLS this year and last, yup we haven’t done anything.

Then on his blog he mentions how the higher seed often moves on after a loss or tie on the road in a playoff series, he isn’t wrong and last year the Crew did come back from a 1-1 draw on the road, but last year they didn’t have the scoring issues over the last month of the season they had this year and last year they were 3-1-1 in Oct and this year they were 1-3-0. Oh and if you look back beyond last year to when the Crew last were in a playoff series it was 2004 and they lost the first match at New England 1-0, and the return leg at home saw them drop out of the playoffs off a 1-1 draw. Before that when they were again matched up against New England in 2002 they tied 0-0 in their match at home and even a 2-2 draw on the road couldn’t save them with the bizarre scoring methods back then.

So while in MLS a lot of things happen but in the case of the Crew if you look past last year, their history in the playoffs isn’t quite so impressive. OK that is enough picking on the media for me, I love that the local media pays attention and at least know enough to produce great content, I may not agree but I have never claimed to be part of the real “media” and while I don’t think home town media has to be neutral, I sure as heck never will claim to be netural.

Latest Poll Results

As you can see a few more people have voted and the support for RSL appears to be from coast to coast, while the doubters are all local. Such is the reality of RSL fans.

OFF MY SOAPBOX
2 wins get us a road trip, but 3 wins gets us a star on the jersey.

Posted in The soapbox | 6 Comments »

November 5, 2009 by f4denz.

Well with 29 votes (wow, really) we are still sitting at 82.8% for RSL and 17.2% for the Crew.  Here is your chance to vote:

Posted in The soapbox | No Comments »