GOOOAAAALLLLL! Beckerman!
GOOOAAAALLLLL! Beckerman!
GOOOAAAALLLLL! Yura!
GOOOAAAALLLLL! Andy!
Sporting the green 'earth day' kits (see kits here) Wednesday night RSL dismantled San Jose in the MLS 'play-in' game of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. Final score was 4-0. RSL also had 10 shots on goal to SJ's 4.
A few of the players not getting much time saw significant time on the pitch tonight. Most significantly Matias Cordoba and Jamison Olave. RSL resident cockroach (don't mean it as an insult) Kenny Cutler played all 90 and youngsters Kirby and Nunez both saw second half action.
RSL has never had much in the Open Cup so hopefully getting a 'play-in' victory will get a ball rolling. If regular season play keeps up it could be a rough season so maybe some LHUSOC success could be fun.
No, I haven't given up on the regular season quite yet, but it is hard to see some of the play found in Toronto and the nation's capital come from our newest batch of players.
Luck of the Irish
They'll rip your heart out...
Salt Lake City is slowly (slowly?) becoming a place in which only the most apathetic of soccer fans can survive. Give your heart to Real Salt Lake and you will be 'Temple of Doomed' quickly.
DCU Part 1 gave us all a false sense of hope. I mean after a game 'we should have won' against Chicago we 'played well' against Chivas in a 3-1 loss, but made up for all of it with a 4-0 beat down of United. We finally turned the corner right? Nope...and the problem is RSL goes down a road that has no turns...just a long highway into mediocrity and promises unfulfilled. After a lose to TFC and an even worse performance in the 4-1 spanking that resulted from DCU Part 2 it is becoming 2007 all over again. Or is it 2006 all over again? Or 2005 anybody? Actually it is none of those...2008 is a unique year in which we suck. Unique because we know that talent is there, we have seen it, but it seems as if it will remain talent wasted.
This team is showing holes everywhere too. Joy has been horrible this season in the red, blue, and gold. Morales is far from earning his keep as team's highest paid player. Talley needs to just give it up. We haven't had a single forward step up and the coaching is beyond suspect.
Positives? It has been less than an hour since the 4-1 loss. No, not the best time to blog and no positives to write down.
So what do I do? Apathy or pain? Who am I kidding? If apathy were my style I wouldn't have ever started this blog. Bring on the pain!
Delta? II - The RSLFO
Yesterday I looked at on-field changes that the team has experienced in 2008, but I don't think it'd be right not to take a closer look at the changes that RSL has made off of the field.
Has 'off-field' RSL made improvements in 2008? Absolutely. In two ways. The off-field dealing to put together a real team (much credit to Garth and Jason) and RSL is slowly repairing its public image.
The only problems that RSL had in 2005 were that the team was horrid, but it really didn't matter all that much because the 'expansion' title helps to brush any problems under the rug. I was proud to be an RSL fan when the team started, independent of the poor showing on the field.
The years of 2006 and especially the first half of 2007 changed that for me. Stadium issues, Academy issues, Checketts holding the state hostage with threats of St. Louis, the China debacle (which was just a preview to what we see now), and other business dealings of the club I know of through Utah business acquaintances all made it so there were times I was embarrassed to think I supported RSL. While this wasn't all RSL's fault it is painful to see a club you want to support 'for the fun of it' look like such jackasses in the public day after day. I could continue with other problems of how RSL treated members of supporter groups and seemed to take a holier-than-thou approach to the middle-income fans in general. There were times I was ready to dump the club for KC or CHI because I wanted to enjoy being a fan of the sport again. I was sick and tired of politics being the headline story for my soccer team. I also think it is note-worthy that the relationship between fans and the front office really seemed to take its biggest dive after Steve Pasterino was given the boot.
Anyway, enough of the garbage, I did mention that RSL has improved in 2008. So how?
- The first big step was the hiring of Garth Largerway. He has seemed to nearly replicate the fan-favour off the field that Steve Pasterino was able to create while assisting in massive overhaul of the roster. This isn't the first roster overhaul seen in SLC, but it is by leaps and bounds the most significant. Garth came in at a time in which fan moral was at an all time low and starting doing things such internet chats and various Q&A sessions. He frequently chats with Bill Riley on KALL 700 and has helped make the team once again accessible to the fans.
- This next topic may just be my own perception, but it also seems like we've seen a lot less of Dave Checketts around and correlating with this idea it seems as if the public image of RSL has gone up. There is much less about Dave C. in the papers around SLC and he has hardly been seen since the ceremony in which they placed the last steel beam. So far so good really. The majority of things that have been read about the man as of late have been in business articles outside of SLC or in St. Louis. It may be a wise move as the RSL discontent settles around the valley now that the stadium and Academy issues have cooled down. Let people forget the negative and possibly reemerge once the stadium is up and running and the team is possibly in playoff mode.
- The team launched the blog "Behind the Shield". No, the blog hasn't done much as far as keeping the fans ahead with information about trades and such, RSLFM still did a better job of that, but it has given fans a place to see what the FO is trying to get going for keeping up with the team. The site was helpful during the Saturn Cup with its in game updates, it has helped send fans to the right places for viewing parties, and I have to admit the El Javi and Kyle Show is pretty funny. Hopefully with time this blog will grow into a daily 'must have' for RSL fans.
- This next 'pro' of 2008 isn't really RSL FO related, but having James Edwards at the DesNews really putting some effort into this team has been awesome. His blog has been a great source of information and his stories have made it so RSL fans don't have to read the garbage spewed out by the likes of Brad Rock or pretty much any of the guys at the SLTrib (minus the occasional Steve Pasterino column).
So tell me...what has the RSLFO improved in 2008? And what have I missed that still needs a huge amount of work?
Delta?
2005: 1-2-1
2006: 0-3-1
2007: 0-2-2
2008: 1-2-1
Looking at the first four games of the season compared to previous years doesn't exactly scream "We've turned a corner", though 2008 has tied our best four game start in franchise history. And a win on Saturday would give us our franchise best first five game record.
Looking a little closer at the goal differential is a little nicer. We are actually at a plus 1 goal differential at 6 to 5 this season. Past seasons we've been at a negative 4 ('05 6-2), negative 5 ('06 8-3), and negative 6 ('07 8-2).
What does any of this mean? I'm not sure exactly, but I still don't think its too late to be looking for the silver lining. Watching the CHI game, DCU game, most of the Chivas game, and the second half of the TFC game I have seen this team play in ways that I've never seen in any RSL team before...even in big wins. We control the field much better than any team RSL has had in teams past and the overwhelming difference I see this season has been the defense. In years past we had Eddie Pope and then three other USL quality backs. This year we miss Pope, but Borchers has filled in quite nicely. The only weakness (and I hate to say this) I've seen on the back line has been Ian Joy. He consistently gets beat and then is subsequent plays attempts to compensate with poorly times slide tackles and tenacity on the ball.
Has there been defense improvement in 2008? Yes.
The midfield has been the most noticeable change while watching the game. Other than the first half against TFC we have had some of the best passing ever seen by the boys in RED & BLUE (Should we call them the Relues? Or the Blueds? Do we need to get gold in there somewhere? Gedlues?). There is fluid passing in the middle and the guys in the middle seem to know what the guys on the wings are either doing or going to do. Beckerman continues to be the best trade in RSL history while I'm quickly becoming a huge fan of Dema. As Joy is with the defense, Morales is the one midfielder that seems to be holding us back. He is also the only midfielder whose position we don't really have a good backup that can press him for his job.
Has there been midfield improvement in 2008? Yes.
Outside of Jeff Cunningham RSL has never had a great forward. JK was okay, but it is hard to consider him an RSL forward as he seemed to play every position but keeper in his time on the field. This season we thought we'd have four great forwards, but it hasn't been the case. Espindola has been solid, but is hurt already. Yura played good late against TFC, but that is about it. Deuchar still needs to start putting it back of the net before I get too excited. I love that he torments the opposing team, but he needs to plant his butt in front of the goal and start heading things in (this is also a tactical problem as the midfield needs to be passing it to his planted butt). As for Findley I've been very disappointed. I thought he'd be the cream of the crop, but his production has been minimal and he rarely threatens.
Has there been striker improvement in 2008? Questionable, but we have scored more in the first four games than any other season.
Coaching seems to be our weak link so far, at least on the road. Don't take this as a "I hate JK" rant, he too has put the blame on himself after the Chivas and TFC lose. He also said that his guys didn't know what to do after going up 2 on DCU. If coaching has really been our biggest problem this year it is a good thing, because it can be fixed. You can't learn more talent and skill quickly enough to adapt in times of desperation. You can change tactics quickly though. Let's hope JK has it in him.
Has coaching improved in 2008? No.
DCU Part II could change both of the last answers and give RSL its best five game start to date. One thing RSL has going for them is that the rest of the league is still at a stand still as no team has really set themselves apart. Let's fix the problems early this season so we aren't bragging about the 'new RSL' after the playoffs are out of reach.
Beat down in Canuckland.
Well after running my mouth (fingers) last week about how the very worst that could happen to RSL would be a tie I am here to fulfill my promise of praising TFC for showing me that RSL still has a long way to go. Yes the second half was controlled by Salt Lake, but after the first half it is still an embarrassing game top to bottom.
Why can't we decide how to go at a team on the road? Chivas and TFC are painful examples of strategies gone wrong. To play 11 guys at defense because of a loud crowd will not settle the excitement, but increase it as the home team will have the momentum of possession and apparent control of the game.
How much better TFC is this season remains to be seen, they've had games already that point in both directions, but we now know that we can't be quite as comfortable in our improvement as we may have liked.
Can we figure out how to play DCU in DC? We'll find out.
