RSL -vs- DC United: Breaking it Down

As we take a look at the upcoming match, I thought I'd break it down by position on the field. In order to do so, let's look at the projected starters:

Real Salt Lake:
(4-4-2)

GK: Rimando;
DEF: Beltran, Borchers, Olave, Wingert;
MID: Beckerman, Morales, Johnson, Mathis;
FWD: Movsisyan, Findley

DC United:
(3-5-2)

GK: Crayton;
DEF: Namoff, Jakovic, Burch;
MID: Fred, Simms, Gomez, Olsen, Wallace;
FWD: Pontius, Emilio

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Position breakdown:

Goalkeeping: this is a no brainer. None of DC's keepers are even "average". So this year it really doesn't matter which one they trot out there, they will give up goals. Rimando won't be confused for keeper of the year, but he's fairly solid. ADVANTAGE: RSL

Defenders: I'm projecting the 3-man backline because they used it last week, and Soehn seems to like that formation. However, he was criticized for employing it last year after the 4-0 debacle they experienced at Rice Eccles. It also suits C. Gomez well, and emphasizes the possession style. Having said that, DC's defense may prove to be a liability. I'm not impressed with Jakovic to this point. RSL on the other hand has a strong backline. ADVANTAGE: RSL

Midfielders: Probably a strength for DC, but RSL's midfield is no slouch either. RSL's midfield features a tireless engine in Will Johnson and a creative playmaker in Javi Morales, with Beckerman and Mathis proving to be solid as well. DC is glad to have the services of Christian Gomez and Ben Olsen back. Fred and Simms are also good complimentary players. Quaranta and McTavish could also play into the mix after being injured. The numbers with a 5th midfielder probably puts them over the top. ADVANTAGE: DC UNITED

Forwards: Emilio was on fire in 2007. With 2 goals in 3 games, is this a sign that he's back? Pontius seems to be faring well as a rookie, but they'll miss the suspended Moreno. On the RSL side, Findley is coming off of a hat trick, and Movsisyan proved to be a goal scoring threat a season ago, but hasn't managed to find one yet this season. ADVANTAGE: RSL

Intangibles: Coaching, home field, style of play, momentum, depth. My leaning is slightly RSL's way when playing at home, but it's too close to call. ADVANTAGE: DRAW

So in my mind this match should go RSL's way. Of course, it doesn't always go as played. My bet: 2-1 RSL.

Clarification: a couple people have asked me about my picks on midfielders and forwards: the DC advantage for midfielders is because of the formation. The RSL advantage at forward is due to the absence of Moreno. I may have gone the opposite direction on both of these without those factors.

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Christian Vieri trial with the Galaxy

Much travelled and oft-tempestuous Italian striker Christian Vieri is en route to LA for a trial with the Galaxy following his recent public divorce with Atalanta. While a bit long in the tooth, frequently injured and a headache off the pitch, the striker is full of talent and could score some goals in this league. However it's unfathomable that the Galaxy would put a striker at the top of their list with the rickety backline that they field. It's also hard to understand how this would be a fit from a salary cap stance as I would assume that he won't be coming for chump change.

My thoughts: quick Garth, file discovery!

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Schedule this week

Tuesday: Today's scrimmage against local amateur club Olympique Montreux has been closed to public and media. No information from the team on the reason for this. Speculation could lead you to believe that the team is working on some new wrinkles, or maybe with the approaching transfer deadline (Apr 15th) there is a trialist in the mix. Or maybe they just want to avoid the distractions. Who knows?

Wednesday: off day

Thursday: Training at Rio Tinto Stadium (10 am)

Friday: Training at Xango Field (11 am)

Saturday: Real Salt Lake -vs- DC United (4 pm), Rio Tinto Stadium

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Casey beats out Findley for POTW

Colorado's Connor Casey beat out RSL's Robbie Findley for Player of the Week honors after both players managed a hat-trick during last weeks play. Casey's hat-trick came courtesy of the porous LA Galaxy defense and included a goal just 16 seconds into the match (surprisingly that's the second fastest goal in MLS history).

Findley's hat-trick came against a Crew defense missing one of their best defensive players (Hejduk) and included a gift courtesy of Crew keeper Will Hesmer. The unique thing about Findley's hat-trick was that it included a goal with each foot and a header. Unique, but not all that exciting.

So did Findley get snubbed? Maybe. To be honest, I think you could toss a coin. Both players were dangerous and had numerous chances in the match, but each had goals that were fairly soft. The one thing that may have given Casey the edge is that his match was much closer (3-2) and so there was a sense that his 3rd goal was more meaningful than Findley's, since RSL beat the Crew 4-1. I'm just glad that the honor didn't go to a Sounders player as I thought Keller's award last week was pretty weak.

What are your thoughts?

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Home Opener - Attendance Figures (Updated)

Now that all of the home openers have taken place in the league I have updated the attendance figures. As you can see, the numbers are down 21% on aggregate. The biggest reductions came in San Jose, Real Salt Lake, Colorado and the LA Galaxy. All 4 teams had openers with big draws last season as San Jose and Real Salt Lake played Chicago and Blanco for the opener last season. Colorado played LA Galaxy and Beckham, and the Galaxy themselves had Beckham aboard last season. This partially explains the decreased numbers for those individual teams, but as you can see this appears to be a trend across the league.

So what are the reasons?

• Economy? We’ve been led to believe that the economy is expected to have a minimal impact on MLS. Is this an indicator that this is a bigger issue for the league than originally thought?
• Schedule/Weather? With the league starting a week earlier is this having an impact on attendance?
• Beckham Fiasco? While Beckham’s absence clearly impacts those games that he would have been participating in, did the fiasco surrounding his situation hurt the image of the league in the eyes of some fans?
• General Apathy? Have the casual fans disappeared this year for other reasons? Is this a general indication of less interest for MLS soccer?

2009/2008 Home Opener Figures by Team

TEAM	2009	2008	DIFF	PCT %
Seattle	32,523	N/A	N/A	N/A
San Jose	10,335	20,038	-9,703	-48%
Real Salt Lake	11,806	20,272	-8,466	-42%
Colorado	11,885	18,713	-6,828	-36%
LA Galaxy	18,013	27,000	-8,987	-33%
NY Red Bulls	12,462	17,119	-4,657	-27%
Chicago	11,633	15,553	-3,920	-25%
DC United	15,895	20,161	-4,266	-21%
Houston	16,053	20,102	-4,049	-20%
Dallas	15,905	17,540	-1,635	-9%
Chivas	16,453	17,251	-798	-5%
Columbus	14,686	13,843	843	6%
Toronto	20,658	20,219	439	2%
New England	11,314	11,116	198	2%
Kansas City	10,385	10,385	0	0%
TOTALS (excl. Sea)	197,483	249,312	-51,829	-21%

Another question related to this to watch is what affect Seattle will have on road trips this season. They have only made one road visit so far and that was to perpetually sold out BMO field in Toronto. Will the stars of Fredy Montero and Freddie Ljungberg collectively shine as brightly as those of Beckham and Blanco? Will the aura that has been created at Qwest Field in Seattle transfer to the road?

What are your thoughts?

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Villarreal All-Star Opponent

Steve Goff is reporting that Villarreal is in the midst of negotiations with RSL to appear at this summers All-Star match. Here is his story on the subject:

The Insider has learned that financially troubled Valencia dropped out of the running to play in the MLS All-Star Game in Salt Lake City this summer and that Spanish La Liga rival Villarreal is now in negotiations with the league. However, there is apparently a dispute about who actually represents Villarreal's legal interests in playing in the All-Star Game. Awaiting further details.....

Note that I have heard for a couple of weeks now that the issue has something to do with international TV rights (i.e. $$$). That seems to make more sense than "who actually represents Villarreal's legal interests". Who knows?

Also when I have inquired about a timeline of when they expect this to get done I keep hearing "January 31st". Since this has been going on for a while I would assume that something will need to get done or they will move on to another option. I don't see them going into May without an ASG opponent announced.

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Historic Hat-Trick

 

Robbie Findley Nets Three in Victory Over Champs

Real Salt Lake enjoyed a magical night tonight with a 4-1 win against the Columbus Crew. The Man of the Match was clearly Robbie Findley who recorded his first professional hat-trick, and Real Salt Lake's first league hat-trick (althought coach Jason Kreis did have a hat-trick in an Open Cup match).

Robbie Findley seemed extremely excited over the 3-goal output that he was able to manage. In 2 of the last 4 matches that I have witnessed Robbie play in he has dominated the action - tonight and then against Charleston a couple of weeks back. Let's hope this activity and quality of play continues.

Several other players had good matches:

Movsisyan: good work on the pitch tonight but he failed to finish one of his several chances. He also supplied some good balls to his teammates, including an assist to Findley on a goal, already equaling his assist count from last season.

Mathis: as Kreis mentioned, Mathis has been good on the ball in both matches. He had 2 assists in this match, and he is very underrated in his ability to pressure the ball and cause opponents to give up possession.

Johnson: That first blast at the goal which resulted in a rebound and eventually the opening goal at the 2nd minute mark was amazing. It was 25 yards out, but Will told me that he likes to take those kind of free kicks and he talked Javi off the ball just prior to the kick. Look for more of this from distance in the future.

Beltran: Okay so it wasn't stellar, but this position was my biggest concern coming into the match, especially when I saw Rogers in the Starting XI for the Crew. I thought Beltran had a decent outing and did reasonably well against Schelotto. Not spectacular but headed in the right direction.

Borchers: Phenomenal match. He helped avert so many "almosts" on the part of the Crew that I lost count.

The crowd was a mixture of disappointment and admiration.

Disappointment - because of their sparse numbers. 11,806 was the announced crowd which is based on paid tickets, but the real number in attendance was likely several thousand less than that. While there were several reasons for this low attendance, you would hope that the support for the club would be strong enough to drive people into the seats even under adverse circumstances.

Admiration - because there were alot of reasons to stay home, but a solid core chose to attend anyway. And the crowd was surprisingly vocal despite their small numbers (of course it's easier to be vocal when your club leads start-to-finish). In addition, this crew largely remained even after a heavy rain began to come down during the last 10 minutes of the match when the team enjoyed a 3-goal lead.

Keep in mind that the Crew did have a depleted lineup and were facing a situation of looking ahead to the Chivas game on Sunday as well. We should avoid getting ahead of ourselves as to what this means for future weeks, but if nothing else I think Kreis was likely right when he said how "important it was for us to score early on, and especially to have Findley score the goal." This should boost his confidence dramatically.

What are your thoughts on tonight's match?

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Home Opener – Attendance Figures

UPDATED to include Thursday’s attendance at 11,806. Very poor showing, but great match. Also added 2008 opener numbers for every team, and added the rest of the opener numbers.

Major League Soccer teams typically get a big boost to their season’s attendance figures from their home opener (and when Beckham and Blanco come to town). Real Salt Lake has had some decent opener figures in the past, but weather always comes into play.

Aside from the weather (which is looking dicey this year), there are four other key factors that may affect attendance this year:

• High expectations coming off of the team’s first ever playoff run
• Rio Tinto Stadium which should draw people in better than Rice Eccles did
• Midweek game – I don’t know the numbers but these games always draw substantially less than the weekend variety
• Nationally televised ESPN2 game. Combined with the weather this gives interested parties another option to get their RSL fix

So where does this leave attendance expectations for tonight’s match? I have no clue, but I think the prevailing thinking is that attendance will be down primarily do to the weather. This, despite Jason Kreis’ appeal to the fans and the team’s “Ticket Insurance” for this match.

Can the team exceed their previous opener low of 16,132?

Real Salt Lake Home Opener Figures by Year

2005 – Rice Eccles	25,287
2006 – Rice Eccles	16,132
2007 – Rice Eccles	18,678
2008 – Rice Eccles	20,272
2009 – Rio Tinto	11,806

All but 4 teams (including RSL) have already had their home openers. The other 3 will have theirs this weekend. Here is how each team’s home opener attendance has stacked up so far. Where will RSL fit into this? My guess is middle of the pack, but we’ll soon find out.

2009/2008 Home Opener Figures by Team

TEAM	2009	2008	DIFF	PCT %
Seattle	32,523	N/A	N/A	N/A
LA Galaxy	18,013	27,000	-8,987	-33%
Chivas	16,453	17,251	-798	-5%
Houston	16,053	20,102	-4,049	-20%
Dallas	15,905	17,540	-1,635	-9%
DC United	15,895	20,161	-4,266	-21%
Columbus	14,686	13,843	843	6%
NY Red Bulls	12,462	17,119	-4,657	-27%
Colorado	11,885	18,713	-6,828	-36%
Real Salt Lake	11,806	20,272	-8,466	-42%
Kansas City	10,385	10,385	0	0%
San Jose	10,335	20,038	-9,703	-48%
Toronto	20,658	20,219	439	2%
New England	11,314	11,116	198	2%
Chicago	11,633	15,553	-3,920	-25%
TOTALS (excl. Sea)	197,483	249,312	-51,829	-21%

Notes:

Real Salt Lake played Blanco/Chicago for 2008 opener.
San Jose also played Chicago for opener (in Oakland).
Colorado played LA Galaxy w/Beckham.
The Galaxy, of course, had Beckham for their opener.

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Updates for Tonight's Match

A few personnel updates for tonight's match:

Duncan Oughton and Alejandro Moreno are expected to be available for tonight's match after having national team duty earlier this week. Neither are expected to start.

Frankie Hejduk is not expected to be available for the Crew after playing the full 90 last night for the US.

Both Robbie Russell and Luis Escalada are both available for selection to the 18 for RSL. My suspicion is that both will be in the 18, but that neither will start. However, if Beltran struggles again early on, look for the early hook and Russell to enter the match.

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Real Salt Lake Using Prozone

As mentioned by Coach Jason Kreis today on Kall 700, Real Salt Lake was recently announced as signing up for the ProZone video analysis and scouting database. Here is the press release from ProZone:

Real Salt Lake joins Toronto FC and San Jose Earthquakes using ProZone’s MatchViewer services, providing a greater level of accuracy, depth and interactivity to their coaching team.

Real Salt Lake will utilise both team scouting and post-game analysis of all 240 MLS games as well as ProZone Trend; the industry’s leading multi-game database that facilitates the analysis of players and teams over a user-defined period.

“We are excited to join ProZone, as we push forward with building the infrastructure of Real Salt Lake,” said RSL General Manager Garth Lagerwey. “ProZone’s technology and analytics allow us to examine our team in completely new ways and get into the guts of what goes into a good performance. We intend to lead, and not to follow as the “Moneyball” philosophy begins to permeate Major League Soccer.”

ProZone’s US database now includes a full compliment of games throughout the 2008 season for all Academy showcase, collegiate and MLS teams, adding to the global database covering international leagues throughout Europe from the last 10 years. The result is a powerful database that clubs can utilise for their own player recruitment & performance benchmarking.

Through the centralised agreement with US Soccer ProZone analysis is available from as little as $10,000, enabling MLS clubs to utilise the leading analysis software designed by coaches for coaches and now used by some of the games biggest clubs in the world including Arsenal, Chelsea & Real Madrid

ProZone now work with over 100 clubs, leagues and associations worldwide. As the performance analysis marketplace continues to grow, we firmly believe that it’s no longer enough to provide performance data… world-class service and market leading insights are how we continue to set the standard as the leading performance analysis provider in the world and we look forward to supporting US Soccer and the MLS throughout the coming season.

Also, here is a sample of the ProZone analysis from the recent US/Mexico match.

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Letter from Jason Kreis: A Call to Arms

Season ticket holders received this message today from RSL head coach Jason Kreis. Thoughts?

RSL Season Ticket Holders,

Belief. Passion. Desire. Determination. Commitment. Sacrifice. These are the core values inside the Real Salt Lake locker room, the values upon which our success will be built, descriptions of the character we demand from every individual that walks through those doors. Nothing but the utmost adherence to these tenets is tolerated.

On the eve of our 2009 home opener – against the defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew – I take the unprecedented step of asking you, our fans, to help us establish the most dominant home-field advantage in Major League Soccer. The electricity in Seattle last week was outstanding, but my mind and heart still revert to the unforgettable energy in the air last Fall when we opened Rio Tinto Stadium. Please click www.RSLtotheCore.com/video/RSL30Olave.mov to relive that
feeling, as we, the RSL Coaches and Players, ask you to BE THERE tomorrow night.

Inside the locker room, our collective focus continues to hone us as a cohesive unit, for us to think and react at a quicker speed of play, for us to pressure our opponent, for us to compete as ONE – together. You, our fans, the best in MLS since day one, are part of that singular focus. You are part of our heartbeat. That each and every one of you share the same values – Belief, Passion, Desire, Determination, Commitment and Sacrifice – motivates every player, coach, and administrator in the RSL organization to forge ahead and redouble all efforts to emerge victorious. Please click www.RSLtotheCore.com/video/RSLLockerRoom.mov to see the latest glimpse inside our locker room as we prepare for gameday.

You know my personal credo, "Fortune Favors the Bold." I believe this in my heart of hearts, and we ask you to be bold Thursday night and every game night at Rio Tinto Stadium. All of us – fans, players, coaches, supporters – everyone who grows the game of soccer, those who serve as the engine for the burgeoning soccer culture in the U.S. and specifically in Utah – should display this boldness proudly, and through the values stated above, fortune will shine brightest upon us.

Determinedly Yours,

Jason Kreis

Head Coach

Real Salt Lake

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Game On! Crew to Invade Rio Tinto

The reigning champs come to town tonight to face Real Salt Lake. RSL is looking for its first points of the season, while Columbus is looking to break from the trend of draws with their first victory.

Real Salt Lake -vs- Columbus Crew

7:00 PM, Thursday April 2nd

Rio Tinto Stadium, ESPN 2

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Real Salt Lake is hoping to have striker Luis Miguel Escalada available for this one. Robbie Russell is a question mark, but could see action as well. Ian Joy is out with a hamstring injury.

Columbus has 3 players seeing international duty this week: Duncan Oughton (New Zealand), Alejandro Moreno (Venezuela), and Frankie Hejduk (USA). In addition, Robbie Rogers (hamstring) is likely to be available but will not likely start, and Pat Noonan is out.

Links:

Real Salt Lake: Beltran ready for redemption - Deseret News

MLS Preview: Columbus Crew at Real Salt Lake - Goal.com

RSL: Newest striker could make debut - Salt Lake Tribune

Near 2008 MLS Cup rivals RSL, Crew clash - MLSnet

Real Salt Lake expects edge in home opener at Rio Tinto - Salt Lake Tribune

Crew and RSL both looking to get off the mark - ESPNSoccernet

RSL Offers Weather 'Insurance' -> Michael C. Lewis Blog

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Salary Cap Analysis - Updated

Updates for player salaries were released today. I have added Raphael Cox's salary, Luis Escalada's salary and Chris Wingert's increase.

Alexandre, Jean	M	$ 34,000
Beckerman, Kyle	M	$ 160,650
Borchers, Nat	D	$ 130,000
Cox, Raphael	M	$34,008
Escalada, Luis	F	$67,450
Findley, Robert	F	$ 60,060
Grabavoy, Ned	M	$ 100,000
Horst, David	D	$ 34,000
Johnson, Will	M	$ 51,200
Joy, Ian	D	$ 126,000
Mathis, Clint	M	$ 115,000
Morales, Javier	M	$ 150,000
Movsisyan, Yura	F	$ 60,582
Nunez, Tino	F	$ 34,000
Olave, Jamison	D	$ 157,500
Reynish, Kyle	GK	$ 34,000
Rimando, Nick	GK	$ 105,000
Russell, Robbie	M	$ 97,583
Williams, Andy	M	$ 84,000
Wingert, Chris	D	$ 105,000
Total Cap Hit From Salaries		$ 1,740,576
GENERATION ADIDAS		No Affect on Cap
Beltran Anthony	D	$ 70,000.00
Nimo Alex	M	$ 70,000.00
Seitz Chris	GK	$ 75,000.00

2009 Salary cap believed to be $2.3M (update: verified to be $2.3M). Based on salaries of current players alone this would indicate that there is approx $560K in available cap space. However, we really don’t have all of the facts that impact the cap.

Unknowns:

• Loan buyout costs for Olave
• Loan buyout costs for Morales
• The amount of Escalada’s increase (should he stay past Apr 15th)
• Buyout of Deuchar’s contract
• Allocation money used to offset Morales and Olave buyout

Here is what I do know:

• The Grabavoy signing appears to be have been made instead of trying to negotiate and find a way to sign El-Khalifi.

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Keepin’ It Real with Yura Movsisyan

 

I chatted with Yura Movsisyan and we talked about missed chances against Seattle, and the match ahead.

KIR/Dnews: Do you feel more pressure on you to score goals this year?

Movsisyan: Obviously we knew that there was going to be more pressure than last year, but personally I feel fit and I feel good confidence-wise so it should be a good year. 

KIR/Dnews: What do you feel you need to do to get the first goal of the season? 

Movsisyan: Just relax, relax and it will come.  I feel like the less that you think about it, and the more that you just let it happen it will come quicker.

KIR/Dnews: How excited are you to be back here at Rio Tinto?

Movsisyan: Very, very excited.  We’ve got a beautiful stadium and good fans.  I don’t think we could ask for anything more.

KIR: When you were going in on Keller for that shot in the second half, what was your thinking on that play?

Movsisyan: I did want to go low, on the ground.  He did an unbelievable job of closing me down early and just sort of just giving me one option.  But I was fighting my way through it, and I was trying to stay balanced because the guy was on my back.  But he did a good job of just going low and not letting me go through his legs.

KIR: It looked like you went the right direction with it, but he just caught it with his legs?

Movsisyan: Yeah, Keller is a very experienced goalkeeper so he did a really good job of just giving me one option.  I could have chipped him but it was a really tough angle because he was too close and a guy was on my back. 

KIR: Any thoughts on Columbus and what you might do to break free in that game?

Movsisyan: Just use our opportunities.  We’re going to get opportunities, and it’s just a matter of how focused we’re gonna be in front of goal.  In the Seattle game we only had 3 or 4 chances.  It will be at home, we’ll have more chances so we’ve just got to be focused and put it away.

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Keepin’ It Real with Nick Rimando

Nick Rimando talks about the Seattle match, Montero’s goal, and the matchup against Columbus.

KIR: What was your impression of the opening match?

Rimando: I thought it was a good game for sure. A tough one to go into with the crowd and emotions roaring for them. But we expected that and it’s tough to swallow a 2-0 loss. But I think we’ve got to understand that it’s just one game. The first game, and we learned alot. And I think going into this home game we have alot to prove, and that we have to get a win.

KIR: As a visitor is it still kind of fun to play in that environment?

Rimando: Absolutely. It definitely got me going. Even though it wasn’t the home crowd. It’s always fun to play in those atmosphere’s. I was thinking before the game what it would be like to walk off the field with a victory – 3 points in your hands – and having that crowd that’s been harassing you all game kind of praise you a little bit.

KIR: What were your thoughts on that 2nd goal, did it kind of catch you off balance?

Rimando: Absolutely. The ball did like 3 different dives and dips. That ball does funny things. You know I face it every day. You see some of the stuff it does - I still can’t believe some of the things it does. And if you hit it right it’s going to do some stuff and that’s exactly what happened. It’s going to go high, it’s going to go low, it’s going to go to your left, it’s going to your right. So my hat's off to him. I think we could have been a little bit tighter. Who knows? If there’s pressure on him...or if there’s not pressure on him, if he hits that I don’t think that he’s going to hit that 9 times out of 10 times, for sure.

KIR: With Columbus coming in, what are your thoughts on them?

Rimando: They are a good team. They’ve proven to be a good team last year, but this is a new year. For us they’re going to be a good test. They’re undefeated right now. You know they have some good players – Schelotto, Robbie Rogers if he’s healthy, but as a team which is what I think is important they’re a really good team. And they fill each others roles, and they’re a hard-working team. Kind of take pride in that. Being here at home we’ve got to go at them and let them know that this is our house.

KIR: With Schelotto and his ability to pass the ball and get shots off, and last year they showed that they get goals from a number of different places, does that make it harder for a keeper not being able to key on one key goal scorer?

Rimando: Yeah it’s tough. They have alot of players on their team that are dangerous and we just have to be as a team, have heads up and know their key players and kind of be a little bit tighter on defends. Last week we were a little loose. This week we’re going to tighten it up. We’ll watch video and make sure that anything that they do from free kicks to through balls to everything from the kickoff we’ll be prepared.

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