Daily Update: Tuesday Jun 17, 2008

Quakes aim to end RSL home reign -> MLS Net
One of only two teams still unbeaten at home on the season, Real Salt Lake return to Rice-Eccles Stadium for their second meeting of the year against the San Jose Earthquakes.

Real Salt Lake Weekly Update -> Our Sports Central
RSL Returns Home for Double-Dip Week against Earthquakes and Revolution

SBI MLS Power Rankings: Week 12 -> Soccer by Ives
RSL moving up!

Preki laments commitment in loss to RSL -> American Soccer News/T Bruce
Although starting with an experienced lineup the red-and-Whites struggled to make an impact in front of goal. Real Salt Lake sat in with a 4-5-1 formation quite content on absorbing all the pressure that Chivas could bring, looking to hit on the counter.

Battered Quakes Travel to Hostile Salt Lake -> American Soccer News/M Diamond
If the Quakes hope to earn a better result, they must seek to keep the ball from Real’s dangerous midfielders. Morales and Beckerman lead this group that has been Real’s center both literally and figuratively.

An M.D. in M.L.S. With a Prescription for Goals -> The New York Times/Jack Bell
Deuchar is apparently the only certified M.D. to play in M.L.S. His father is also a doctor back home in Gretna, Scotland, and Deuchar is leaning toward a specialty in rheumatology, sports medicine or perhaps as a general practitioner after his playing days.

RSL Returns Home this Week -> Our Sports Central
Fresh off claiming its first road win of the 2008 season at Chivas USA on Saturday, Real Salt Lake (4-5-3, 15 pts.) will look to continue its climb up the Western Conference standings

Real Salt Lake: Great opportunities for Talley -> Deseret News/James Edward
He loved his time in Utah and plans on moving back when his playing days are over, but there are great opportunities for him with his new club in Southern California.

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Daily Update: Saturday May 10, 2008

RSL acquires future second-round pick RSL to receive 2010 or 2011 SuperDraft selection for Carey Talley -> Real Salt Lake Media Relations
Real Salt Lake announced a trade with Chivas USA on Friday, with RSL sending MF Carey Talley to the Southern California club in exchange for a conditional second round selection in either the 2010 or 2011 MLS SuperDraft.

Real Salt Lake bids Talley farewell -> blog.roguecavaliers.com/My Soapbox
“We would like to sincerely thank Carey Talley for his three years of service to Real Salt Lake,” said RSL General Manager Garth Lagerwey.

Real Salt Lake: RSL looks to regroup for FC Dallas -> Deseret News/James Edward
FC Dallas (2-1-3) sits atop the Western Conference standings along with Colorado with nine points. RSL (1-3-2) has earned five points through six games, but a win tonight at 7 would go a long way toward narrowing the gap.

Real Salt Lake game day -> Deseret News

Chivas' roster keeps evolving -> dailybreeze.com/Phil Collin
"Carey is an experienced, consistent defender who can play both in the middle and on the outside," Preki said. "We're glad he's joined the squad and think he'll be a good fit for us as we move forward."

Besagno on the rise at Salt Lake -> Seattle Post Intelligencer/Mathew Gaschk
"Obviously there were a lot of expectations on me. I was just thrilled to be in the league. I didn't put any expectations on myself, I was just happy to be here," Besagno said May 2, before playing a match with Real Salt Lake's reserve team. "As of now, I'm not going to be happy until I'm starting and playing for my team."

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Morning Update: Monday April 21, 2008

IT'S ALL ABOUT TACTICS

"I think the coaching staff takes full responsibility for us sitting back, perhaps we should have pressed them from minute one." -> James Edward's Blog

A REALSLFAN OPINION: We saw tactical errors work in our favor when DC came to town. I believe they worked against us as has been reported in Toronto. If you break the elements of soccer into three elements: skill, effort and tactics - I believe that we have shown that we may have 2 out of 3 on our side this season. At least 2 out of 3 elements are up to playoff level of quality. This team has made an upgrade in the starting lineup. For the most part, all of the starters are now of MLS quality. In addition, there is some depth there so that we can now have some confidence in players brought in off of the bench. We have also shown that we are giving pretty consistent effort on the pitch. There have not yet been any significant letdowns where the team has appeared to give up.

The real question is whether or not we will have the tactics element that will allow us to compete for an MLS playoff spot this season. This is Kreis' big test this season, and will be the measuring stick against which he is judged as a coach. He won the battle against Soehn a week ago at home. This past weekend was unfortunately a big knock against him. Can he/we rebound this week and fight a good tactical battle against DC?

To go along with this question is one of formation: Is the 4-4-2 the right formation for us? We looked pretty good playing the 3-5-2 in the second half against Toronto. Can that work consistently? Will we see it in spots late in games going forward?

In addition, there is a question of style. What is our playing style? What kind of team are we? Are we a counter-attacking team like Chivas who pounces on opportunities and mistakes quickly? Are we a team like the Galaxy that uses well-placed long balls to Beckham to coincide with well-timed runs by Donovon? Are we a team that uses Deuchar as a gather and distribute type of target forward to get the ball to the other attacking players? Will we see the fluid, tight passing (Latin style) that was promised in the offseason? So far this season, we have yet to see a style fully emerged. I believe as Garth said, this is typically "established by your midfield", and we have been fairly erratic in the midfield to this point. Javier Morales has not yet established himself as our creative leader on the pitch. Hopefully this will change on Saturday.

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Weeks 1 & 2 thoughts

I'm baaaaackk!!!

And although I haven't yet properly watched an RSL game, I did watch Game1 via Tivo in fast forward mode, and I watched Game2 on the computer (not my idea of a good way to watch a soccer match). Here are a couple of my thoughts so far:

• Disappointment - at this point in the season we had 2 points last season. We only have 1 now. We have looked good in spurts, but clearly have not "jelled or is it gelled?" at this point.
• Our midfield has controlled possession much better than in the past, but has yet to put consistent pressure on the offensive side of the ball, and has had several bad giveaways that have led to dangerous opportunities for the opponent.
• Our forwards have had some scoring chances, but have been unable to prove that they can finish.
• Our outside backs have had some lapses that have led to goals. In addition, Mantilla had a poor effort in the last match.
• Rimando has given up 4 goals, with only 6 saves. To be fair, the opportunities that have led to the goals have been easy chances for the opposition.

I also have questions about our tactical strategy. How will we use Deuchar? What will our midfield style/attributes be? Will we continue with the high, flat backline that seems to get us in trouble against quicker players, such as Galindo?

Many RSL fans are starting to worry that this is the same RSL horror flick that we've seen in the past just with some new actors. I say don't judge the movie entirely on the trailers we have seen before, but this won't keep the critics from giving a thumbs down if it continues much longer.

As for me, I'm just excited to finally see an RSL game this season properly. Come Saturday DCU represents a new act in our RSL movie - hopefully one that involves a "W" and 3 points.

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