The “Controversy”: As most of you are aware, Real Salt Lake had their second major controversy of the season this week in their match against San Jose. The first controversy occurred against Toronto early in the season when 3 minutes of stoppage time was signaled, but the referee blew the whistle after only about 1 minute. In retrospect this was most likely inconsequential, but it’s conceivable that RSL could have scored an equalizer with those last 2 minutes of lifeline. This incident played a major part in Jason Kreis later being fined by the league for some critical comments in the Deseret News.
This week’s big controversy appears to have a direct result on the outcome. The play that led to the controversy happened around the 72nd minute of the game, when Javier Morales put a well-placed corner kick onto the head of Robbie Findley who flicked the ball forward to a forward rushing Kyle Beckerman who appeared to be beyond the final defender when the ball was played and just managed to get his toe onto it to put the ball into the net. My initial reaction was that he was offside on the play, but there was no such indication. A goal was indicated on the scoreboard. Both the referee, Jason Anno, and the assistant seemed to indicate a goal and trotted toward midfield for the ensuing restart. However suddenly there seemed to be confusion as the team and crowd continued to celebrate. Some discussion took place with referee and players on the field. The referee took the ball down toward the San Jose goal and pulled an RSL player in for a chat (I believe it was Javier Morales, despite the fact that Beckerman was the goal scorer and the one with the captain’s armband I believe). Next thing you knew, Joe Cannon was placing the ball at the 6 yard spot for a goal kick.
Two points of controversy came out of this. The first point of controversy was the impression that the referee disregarded the assistant who kept his flag down on the play, and was somehow influenced (either by watching the scoreboard or by the appeals of the San Jose players) to change the ruling. Many have claimed to have witnessed both of these occurring, but I have not seen any visual evidence of this, or heard any confirmation of this from anyone on the field. Obviously if the referee is swayed by the replay or players on the field, that would seem to be a major integrity issue. The second point of controversy came after the fact, when evidence came to light that there was a defender out wide that appeared to keep Beckerman onside after all. This wasn’t initially obvious because the player was out near the sideline defending the corner and Beckerman was directly in front of the goal. This controversy would have been a point of discussion in any event, but likely would have quickly blown over. However, combined with the referee’s change of heart on the call, this has received much more attention.
What are your thoughts on this situation? It will be interesting to see what conclusion the MLS officials come to when they review this weeks on the field officiating.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Controversy
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Accountability
During the offseason, we heard Jason Kreis and Garth Lagerway pontificate that the team was trying to build a "culture of accountability". In fact part of the justification for bringing in Borchers and Kovalenko was that they were veteran players who would get in the face of the younger players and force them to be accountable. Well where is this accountability?
Who is being held accountable for the personnel?: Matias Cordoba was touted as our most important offseason acquisition. We were promised that Kenny Deuchar was going to score goals. Ian Joy was supposed to be a solid left back who would contribute on the offensive side as well. Our midfield was touted as very deep.
Who is being held accountable for the tactical decisions?: In my book tactical decisions have led to at least 2 and possibly 3 of our road losses. First, the debacle in Toronto which Kreis did own up to. Second, some questionable tactics and personnel against Colorado. Would we have still lost this one? Maybe. Finally the decision tonight to take out a very effective Olave and bring in Mantilla who has shown that he poorly marks opponents in the box, and does not have proper positioning. Meanwhile he does not make a change in the midfield where we have 3 exhausted players: Williams, Morales, and Beckerman. This led us to go from a 1 goal advantage with about 15 minutes left to a 2-1 loss. There is also the acknowledged tactical problem against Dallas at home which was not corrected until late in the first half. Fortunately that did not cost us. Where is the accountability?
How are the players being held accountable?: Dr. Goals: a supposed proven scorer who has not proven that he can score for us. Yet we trot him out there week after week. Is that holding him accountable? Ian Joy has been completely dreadful this season and his red card nearly cost us early on in this one tonight. Yet he gets opportunity after opportunity. Is that accountability? Mantilla was out of position on both goals scored tonight, marking absolutely nobody. Yet he keeps getting an opportunity. Where is the accountability?
When criticism was fired at the club for not demanding the playoffs, I was quick to their defense. When calls were made to fire Kreis last season and then again in the offseason, I was quick to the defense. When criticism was made that for all of the changes to the roster, we still weren't much better than in the past, I was in favor of letting these players prove themselves. When Garth Lagerway was counseling that we need to be patient in the first part of the season as the team needs "time to gel", I was willing to be patient. In fact, if you ask anyone who knows me they will tell you my greatest strength is patience. But patience needs to be balanced with courage. And now is the time to have courage. Now is the time to show that "the culture of accountability" wasn't just lip service. This applies to Checketts, Manning, Lagerway, Kreis and every player.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Daily Update: Thursday May 8, 2008
Win the goal as RSL hosts FC Dallas -> MLSnet.com Staff
Two teams both looking to get back into the win column face off on Saturday night in Utah when Real Salt Lake play host to FC Dallas.
Week 7 Preview: The fun continues -> mls.theoffside.com/Travis
Should be a close one, but I think Real pull out the win.
OBTCz - Numbers Game -> AYL Soccer/Jacob Hart
The goal scoring is definitely higher, but the goals conceded hasn't changed much.
Injuries and jersey sponsors -> Deseret News/James Edward
I asked Ian Joy after practice how his ankle bone spur was doing, and he said miserable. Afterward coach Jason Kreis admitted the team is very concerned about Joy’s short-term and long-term future.
RSL notebook: Kreis looking for forward who's best with Deuchar -> Deseret News/James Edward
"I think we're beginning to see a little bit of progress with how we're going to play with Kenny," Kreis said. "I think we've started to become a little more familiar with what the other forwards are doing, where they need to position themselves to pick stuff off Kenny."
Monday, May 5, 2008
A Real World Review: May 5, 2008
This Weeks Results: 4-0 Win over San Jose (Open Cup), 2-2 Draw with LAG
Record: 1-3-2
Points: 5
Key Developments: RSL plays well but still finds a way to give up points.
What's right in the Real World: Javier Morales had the breakout game a lot of us have been waiting for. His touch was sublime, he was strong on the ball despite Joey Franchino's thuggery, his crossing was pinpoint, his vision was good, and he made solid decisions. Nat Borchers and Jamison Olave continue to impress in the center of the back line and did a great job keeping Donovan and Gordon contained. Tony Beltran played with a lot of confidence in his first start, despite the mistake that led to the first LA goal, but he is an intelligent player and will learn not to be too cute that close to RSL's goal. Matias Cordoba made some nice plays in limited minutes. Dema Kovalenko looks like a great fit at defensive mid. And finally, Fabian Espindola and Kenny Deuchar have separated themselves from the pack at the forward spot - they are working well together and are finishing chances.
What's wrong in the Real World: The reserve forwards (Robbie Findley and Yura Movsisyan) continue to be highly disappointing. I don't have a lot of confidence in RSL's ability to get a late goal from a substitute right now. Findley continues to show poor touch and is invisible a lot, while Movsisyan's finishing is beyond bad and his lack of vision and passing is killing promising opportunities. The USOC match aside, Beckerman has had two subpar games in a row - I don't believe this team can provide a consistent 90-minute effort without him on his game. And finally - I feel like we've been saying this for four years now - RSL continue to make one or two costly mental errors each game that opponents are capitalizing on. RSL need to learn to put teams away when they have a lead, get up by enough that you can absorb a few mistakes/bad calls, or learn to not make so many of those mistakes.
A brief look at the week ahead: FC Dallas @ RSL. The lack of results have put RSL in the unenviable position of having what I would consider to be a must-win game very early in the season. Unfortunately Dallas is not the team you want to be facing in a must-win game. They are a very good technical team and will try to possess the ball - a good formula for finding success on the road. RSL will need to find the defensive bite in their midfield to limit Dallas' possession. Shutting down Kenny Cooper will also be key.
Final thoughts: While RSL have done an admirable job at addressing a lot of needs in the offseason, I still see a glaring one remaining that nobody seems to be talking about. In the two home draws this season (vs. Chicago and LA), there have been some common denominators. First, RSL dictating the play most of the time. Second, solid defense.....but here's where it starts to go downhill. Third, the inability to finish good chances. Fourth, one or two key mental mistakes, and fifth - the part I want to talk about - a player for the opponent who can make you pay for those mistakes. We saw Cuauhtemoc Blanco make RSL pay for essentially its only mistake of the match. And we saw David Beckham make RSL pay - twice - for its two big mistakes.
Every team makes mistakes - there's no perfect soccer team out there. What RSL have never had is a player who can make opponents pay for their mistakes. RSL haven't had a player who is nearly automatic on free kicks or can consistenly deliver late goals in close games when the pressure is on. In other words, RSL do not have a "go-to guy".
Perhaps in the future RSL will use their DP slot on a player like this. But in the near term, this player will likely have to emerge. My hope would be Espindola emerging as RSL's hero when a late goal is needed. But until that happens and somebody steps up, RSL will likely continue to get burned for their mistakes while allowing their opponents' mistakes to go unpunished.
