The recent trade of Clint Mathis is a bit puzzling on both sides. First of all, I don’t see Mathis and Beckham on the pitch together. The two are both great on the offensive-side of the ball, but neither player has the endurance or speed to effectively cover and help out on the defensive end. Both players have a lot of soccer savvy, good vision, and can deliver quality long balls forward to a player like Landon Donovan. Maybe a sign that Beckham is not likely to return? I can’t imagine Bruce bringing in a $100K, 33-year old reserve player.
For Real Salt Lake this takes away a quality, productive player who fit into the system pretty well. Mathis was actually the best player on the roster during the first third of the season last year. The only potential benefits of this trade that I can see are: 3rd round pick next season (worthless), moving ahead of LA to take a player LA was interested in (unlikely), or freeing up $$$ to bring in a new, younger midfielder (could be the case). Otherwise I don’t see the reason for making this trade. Hopefully we can get some insight once the draft concludes.
