Kovalenko to Galaxy

UPDATE: According to the SL Tribune this has been confirmed with a team representative and the pick is a 2011 conditional pick.

Note: this deal is not official. I expect to have more info later today.

Goff is reporting that Kovalenko has been traded to LAG for draft picks and allocation dollars. Here is the story:

A deal we hinted at several weeks ago is about to be finalized: Veteran
midfielder Dema Kovalenko from Real Salt Lake to Los Angeles for a draft pick
and some allocation money.

My thoughts on this? I think Dema is a good veteran to have around. I know that he helped Yura alot to stay mentally focused throughout the season and his intensity was always present both at practice and on the pitch. He clearly wasn't part of the long term plans for the team, and I think his position can be upgraded although it's not a sure bet to do so. In addition, his high salary $200K last season is too much to pay for someone who isn't at least one of your top 5 players. In addition, in 2009 RSL needs allocation $$$ perhaps more than any other time and we had very little.

On a personal note, I'll miss Dema out on the practice field. He helped keep things lively, and I got the sense that he was a really quality guy and one that all of his teammates liked.

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FOR REAL: Robbie Russell (Part I)

AUDIO -> PART 1
AUDIO ->PART 2

FOR REAL is a new segment for Keepin' It Real. It's meant to be a candid Q&A with players or coaches to give the fans a chance to find out more about them. We will solicit questions from fans so that you can get answers to what is on your mind.

The original intention was to get these answers via email, however in this case, I was able to meet with Robbie Russell face-to-face. I'm glad I did as I found him to be very well-spoken and very forthcoming. We will have to re-evaluate this for future installments.

Below I have attempted to capture his answers; the answers below may not be his exact words, but are a close summary of them. The audio file for this is of decent quality, and although it wasn't meant to be a podcast we will explore the possibility of making it available in its raw form. It's really quite compelling.

1. Explain your decision to not enter MLS initially, but instead go overseas. My father was an aid worker and we moved around a lot. I lived in Ghana, Sri Lanka, and all over the US. I was approached by an agent, Lyle Yorks, and he offered to send me on a couple of trials. I was just out of school, so why not. I got a contract with the first team that I went on trial with. Because my family is used to being a n international family, I never really felt like I was separated. My family was really good at supporting me, and so I just stayed.

2. You played in Iceland, Denmark and Norway. Which of those leagues did you like the most and why? I think I liked Norway the most. When I joined Rosenborg they were a Champions League team, and I got to play in group stages. I got to play against Real Madrid, well I was injured but I got to go to the stadium. I got to play against Arsenal and it was at Highbury. I just got to experience that World Class level of European football. So I had the best soccer memories of Norway. But also I felt that a lot of Norweigan people are very accepting and there is a lot of positive energy around the teams. The people in Iceland and Denmark are amazing too.

3. How much did you hear about MLS, and in particular RSL while you were in Europe? Honestly not much at all. The MLS doesn’t get much exposure. Until recently, with the acquisition of David Beckham. That whole media storm surrounding it. The money surrounding it. Up until this last year I had never seen an MLS game on television in Europe until they started showing Galaxy games. It seems like the league has just grown by leaps and bounds.

4. When did you have your first contact with RSL? And why did they become a club that you were interested in? I first contacted RSL about 6 or 7 months ago, so not during this European window, but the previous European window. It was at that time that my club in Denmark had been going through some transitions. I had met with the coaches, and they had had 3-4 coaches since I’d been there. Every time a new coach would come in, new players would come in. I had come from Rosenberg after an injury, and within 10 days that coach got fired. After the 3rd coach is when my playing time really declined. About 7 months ago I wanted to look for new clubs, but my wife had just come over. She had just started her job, and just started school to get her masters, so she couldn’t leave for at least a year. So RSL approached me during the window because I had made some grumblings in the press. At my age then I felt maybe it was time to come back to the States and maybe get a shot at the National team. So they approached me but I couldn’t go because my wife still had too much time left, and RSL said we’ll see what happens in the future. Luckily during the current window they were still interested.

5. Your wife’s family has a connection to Utah? Yes, my wife’s father went to medical school here like 25-30 years ago and comes back occasionally and they bought a house here to retire, but he was offered a position as a hospital administrator in LA so they stayed there. It’s a big part of being a nice initial setup here in Salt Lake.

6. Now how does that work with you coming back, you were interested in specifically RSL or just coming back to the league? There were a couple of teams that I was interested in, but RSL was the one that showed the most enthusiasm about. A lot of the other clubs, I mean I had been injured for so long and only played a couple of games in the 6 months before that I knew a lot of teams had forgotten about me. But RSL kept up with me, and that meant a lot to me. In Europe, if you are an American and you are out of favor with the coaches, it’s not like the press is going to get on the clubs case. So to me it was important to go with a club where there were people with enthusiasm who wanted me to be there, and RSL really showed that.

7. So how did that work with the league rules, was there an allocation? I didn’t find out about the allocation list until after I had decided to come to RSL. So all the sudden I had decided to come to RSL, and the league called a week later and said you can’t just sign with RSL. You have to sign with the league first and we don’t really know where you’ll end up, but we think you could end up with RSL. So at that point I had come on trial, but it was kept secret so that no other teams knew that I was on trial. And the 6 months of not playing first team football worked to my advantage, because the other teams had forgotten about me. Garth told me that he was trying to build up that I wasn’t a good player to all of the other managers. When I went back to train in Denmark to see what was going to happen, Garth told me not to score like 6 goals in a training game. Actually there was only one training game and I decided to sit it out. I had never experienced that kind of politics.

8. How much did the Duke connection come into play with this transfer? I assume so. Obviously I didn’t play with Jason or Garth, but I know that they spoke to John Rennie who was our coach. So I definitely got a recommendation from John to them, but I don’t know how much that played in their decision.

9. How about having your in-laws here, did that help in the decision? Yea, them being the most knowledgeable in my immediate circle (about Utah) that definitely helped. Also one of my best friends from Duke lives here, and she was full of recommendations and was very excited.

10. What about playing in Europe was there one memorable playing experience? Yes there were actually two in the same game. We were playing against Arsenal in Champions League and I got substituted in the last 30 minutes. I was up against Thierry Henry, and I tackled him pretty hard. I chopped him down. I also nutmegged Ashley Cole.

11. What was life like living in Norway? It was life. (Trey interjects that Nat Borchers complains about the food). Yea Scandinavian food is less favorable than here in the States. Norway especially has the most beautiful scenery and nature. The first club that I was at, Sogndal, which is one of the smallest clubs in Europe. It’s in this little town of 5,000 people that sits right on the edge of one of the largest fiords in Europe. So literally you walk out your door and look up at this cliff that goes straight up.

12. Which position is your favorite? I guess for most of my pro career I’ve played right back. I’ve always seen myself as a midfielder. My best contribution to the team may be a defender, but with time to learn the system and know the other players I could be an effective midfielder as well. But my first concern being a professional is to help the club in any way that I can.

13. Did you know any of the players before you came here? My only exposure was Dema Kovalenko when he was at Indiana. My freshman year we played Indiana in one of the first tournaments of the season. I didn’t remember him specifically but they had like 3 Ukrainian midfielders that dominated. That was one of my first memories from Duke.

14. What’s the probability of a return of the dreds? I’d have to say very unlikely. Unfortunately when I first got the dreds and my mom saw them, she cried. She was so upset that I got dreadlocks. Since then she is constantly reminding me that the dreadlocks should never happen again.

Click Here for Part 2

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A Real World Review: Monday June 30, 2008

A Real World Review

A Review of Week 15 for RSL

By Paul Bernhardt (aka, BalanceUT)

Key Developments: RSL continues to struggle on the road with the loss in KC. Fortunately, the performance of other Western Conference teams allowed RSL to maintain their 2nd place position in the conference. Now at the halfway point of the season, the team at 19 points means they are just shy of the points typically needed to make the playoffs.

What’s Right in the Real World: Defense. Even though giving up a goal due to an error in judgment Saturday night in KC, the 2008 edition of RSL has the overall best defense in franchise history. The center tandem of Olave and Borchers may be the best pair in the league. Wingert has shaken off some early season jitters to play solidly. Beltran is clearly a rookie, but has high skills and sufficient speed for recovery such that he does not cause the high level of worry of previous outside backs. Compared to previous seasons, this past couple of months is the first time that we could count on seeing the same four consistently in the back and know that they will serve the needs of the upcoming match.

The midfield is also right in the Real World. While it was not terribly obvious in KC, Morales, Williams, Kovalenko and Beckerman fundamentally do what is asked. What makes RSL’s midfield not look to be high quality, particularly at home and at KC is narrow pitches. A narrow pitch crowds players such that the space for passing is restricted, leading to less of an apparent flow. The proof for me, however, is in the fact that KC looked essentially as restricted. That means our crew was doing as much to them as they were to us. Play that is essentially a draw when on the road is what you need for your team and the midfield provided that.

What’s Wrong in the Real World? Still, finishing. While not the horror of missed opportunities that we saw hosting San Jose last week, RSL blew some clear chances, any one of which could have made KC work for a draw or even resulted in stealing 3 points. Notably, Dr. “Goals” did not produce again. This has been blamed on lack of service from the midfield. But, I think that is misplaced blame. I believe that Deuchar is not getting open in positions where the midfielders want to give him the ball. He is fighting constantly in the box and often losing that battle. That continued in the KC game. Deuchar would get the ball either too far out from the goal and alone with no options but to try to work the ball with his feet, a disastrous choice. He is called for fouls all the time while fouls against him seem never called. Findley seemed to be still suffering from the effects of his mild concussion from the week before. The lack of production of Deuchar and Findley, appropriately, lead to their being substituted off in favor of Movsisyan and Nunez, who did no better. Part of that is Movsisyan’s inability to keep his head up and pass to others. When, oh when, will Espindola return? And, when he does, will he be the same player he was so many months ago?

A certain amount of the problem for RSL in KC was due to the coin flip. When the coin flip allowed KC to put the sun in Rimando’s eyes, RSL had to play a very defensive first half. Many times all 11 were in RSL’s end of the field. Kreis likes to have RSL come out attacking, but it was clearly not an option in the match. When KC came out the second half very aggressive, RSL did not adjust well and it was a dicey start to the half.

In the end, what scuttled RSL’s road point was a careless foul by Cutler. Sometimes it seems that Cutler’s role is ill-defined. Defensive, yet carries himself to the attack very easily. This sounds like Beckerman, but Cutler does not have Beckerman’s talent level. So, Cutler, in trying to recover going back, fouled and that set up the opportunity for KC.

Leading to the last thing wrong in the Real World: Best seen in the contrast to KC’s scoring opportunity, RSL needs to be much more dangerous on set pieces. Usually Morales is quite good, certainly better than Williams ever was in previous seasons (and I am a pretty big Williams fan). But, against KC, he was off the mark. RSL needed to convert one of its several set pieces (and nearly did, but close does not count).

A Brief Look at the Week Ahead: Back in the friendly confinement of Rice Eccles, RSL will need to take advantage of the home field against a resurgent Houston Dynamo. Houston started the season terribly shaky, particularly compared to expectations. But they have recovered substantially and is a good road team, having the highest number of road draws of any MLS team. RSL and Houston are tied for 2nd in the West. This is the opportunity for RSL to make a statement that they intend to contend for a playoff spot. History says that RSL should be content with a draw against the two-time defending MLS Champions. But, given that RSL’s form at home, a defense that is very good and Houston’s problems with finishing, this game is RSL’s to take. I predict RSL 1-0 Houston.

Final Thoughts: RSL is really in pretty good shape, particularly compared to previous seasons. Kreis has completed what he initiated last season, shoring up the defense. The first step to winning in soccer is to stop losing, to stop giving up easy goals. RSL’s defense is clearly solid, and Olave is spectacular. This allows the rest of the team to go forward. I think RSL has all the pieces to be a playoff team, but Deuchar is the key. If he can ever get a proper feel for the MLS game, he will become quite dangerous. He still seems to be knocked around in the box with impunity, yet when he returns the favor he is called on the fouls. Unfair or not, he has to figure out what to do to become effective in MLS. When he does, and he shows he can convert the chances, the team will find it easier to get the ball to him, opening up options for other players. RSL can become a team that opponents dread coming to town and fear to visit, because all the rest of the team is sufficient. RSL can be playoff bound with only a little improvement in offense.

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Photos from Practice at Rice Eccles: Friday June 6, 2008

Practice at Rice Eccles Stadium looked great today. The team chemistry seems to be getting better all the time. Everyone seemed loose as plenty of friendly/competitive banter among the players was included during play. Dema showed no signs of being sick, he was as feisty as ever. Espindola was nowhere to be seen, so look for a Deuchar-Findley tandem tomorrow. The reserve players practiced a little longer than the rest of the team (this included Mantilla). Olave appears to be starting next to Borchers again. Everything else looks to stay the same for Saturday. I'm not really expecting any surprises considering our success at home so far. Hope to see you at the game!

Enjoy-


(Left) Beckerman controls, "Pirate Style" (Right) Andy Williams practices his free kicks


(Left) Mantilla joins in after his electric-shock treatment (Right) Chris Wingert on the move


(Left) Will we see more of Cordoba? (Right) Dema lays an egg. Andy finds it rather amusing.


(Left) Nunez shows Borchers how to dance (Right) Chris is still on the move


(Left) Dema thinks about doing the "Crazy Ivan" (Right) Beltran and Kirby try for a block


(Left) Brennan's next performace will be at Ballet West (Right) Morales has six assists so far this season. He's tied for first in MLS.

Cordoba makes his move on Kirby

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Daily Update: Wednesday May 28, 2008

RSL again can't find mix on road -> MLSnet/Ryan Bergeman
"We are in a bit of a road slump," RSL captain Kyle Beckerman said after the game. "We just can't find answers right now. The fight is there, the right attitude is there. We will keep working at it and hopefully it will come around soon."

Crew oust RSL from U.S. Open Cup -> MLSnet/Nathan Linton
an exchange of shoves ensued along with some words, after which Kovalenko tossed the ball at Ekpo, hitting him in the face. Referee Jeff Gontarek held a conference with his line judge and dismissed Kovalenko with a straight red card, sending RSL a man down.

Crew sink Salt Lake in US Open -> American Soccer News/ Jim Baird
Real Salt Lake had several opportunities to get on the board in the second half, including three solid attempts that tested Crew keeper Andy Gruenebaum. However none could beat him.

Sandy moving forward without county funds for Real stadium -> Deseret News/Rebecca Palmer
The $10 million is the last step in a $45 million public funding package for the $110 million sports stadium.

Sandy finds money for Real Salt Lake obligations -> The Salt Lake Tribune/Rosemary Winters
Sandy Economic Development Director Randy Sant presented to the City Council his "Plan B" to fulfill the city's pledge to RSL's $110 million soccer stadium

Real Salt Lake and Coldwell Banker Team Up -> OurSports Central
As part of Real Salt Lake's continuing outreach to Utah's Hispanic community, RSL is proud to announce a partnership with Coldwell Banker and Hispanic soccer "ligas" throughout the Salt Lake area to present the Coldwell Banker Summer Soccer Series.

Real Salt Lake Sees Run Towards U.S. Open Cup Ended with 2-0 Loss at Columbus -> OurSports Central
Real Salt Lake's run towards qualification for the 2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup came to a disappointing end tonight in central Ohio, as the Columbus Crew used a goal in each half to down the Utah squad 2-0

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It's Now or Never: Matias Cordoba

This is an attempt to chronicle the short career of Matias Cordoba at Real Salt Lake and examine his status and future with the team. As an admitted fan of Cordoba's I can't claim to be completely objective. I believe that the coaching staff is obviously more informed than us fans, and are looking out for the best interest of the team. This is not a critique but simply a case of me trying to understand the situation. Your insight would be very much appreciated.


FLORIDA

Matias Cordoba started off with RSL on the wrong foot. Highly touted in the offseason, and described by Garth Lagerway as the "most important offseason acquisition" and as "a mix between Kyle Beckerman and Javi Morales", he seems to have failed to impress to this point. Obviously there were extremely high hopes that he would be a key contributor this season. He arrived in the United States meeting up with the team in Florida on Feb 15th for the opening day of practice there. The first observation came from James Edward's DNews Blog on Feb 15:

• Fatigue and a knock or two got the better of RSL's jetsetters. Singapore trialist Indra Sahdran appeared to tweak a calf muscle about 20 minutes into practice. He tried to gut it out for about five minutes but eventually came off the field. The same goes for Argentine midfielder Matias Cordoba. He was noticeably laboring throughout practice, and eventually called it a day when fellow countryman Matias Mantilla clipped him on the shin.

He saw his first action in the second half of RSL's preseason match against FIU. He played alongside Javi Morales in this match, which is what I believe was the original vision for him. Afterwards Garth Lagerway had this to say (from James Edwards DNews Blog on Feb 16):

• Garth Lagerwey had the following interesting comments about a few of his players: "You've got a guy like Matias Cordoba that's really struggling with his fitness and the long flight, all that takes a couple days to get adjusted. You see the flashes you see the talent, and now you want to give them a couple days, I'd say ditto on that with Indra.

On Feb 19th RSL suffered a preseason loss to Lynn University and Cordoba was again alongside Morales as part of the team that took the field, but was substituted at half when it was a scoreless draw.

On Feb 22nd, Cordoba saw his first action against an MLS foe as RSL faced the Colorado Rapids in another Florida preseason match. He came on at the 60th minute as Javi Morales was subbed out at the same time. From the lineup he appeared to be playing the #10 role for the club, and it payed off with him teaming up with Espindola for an assist. The next morning he played the full match as RSL wrapped up the Florida leg of its preseason as the midfield position was shorthanded with Talley and Morales sitting out with injuries.

That next day word got out that RSL was acquiring Dema Kovalenko. Described as a move to add depth and toughness to the midfield. Was this the first signs of a lack of confidence in Cordoba? Probably not, as this was less than a week into his arrival with the club.

On February 28th, Garth Lagerway held a chat at Applebee's with a handful of fans and said essentially that if there is a player that they have been disappointed with "it's Matias Cordoba". As I understand there were repercussions as a result of this and either Garth or Jason had to sit down with Matias (presumably through a translator) and work through this issue as Matias was upset at the comment.



ARGENTINA

At this point I assumed that all would be well as the team headed off to Argentina. Cordoba saw action along with Carey Talley against a lower-level Newell's Old boys squad on March 5th. He played the full 60 with a team composed mostly of RSL rookies, and the result was a scoreless draw. He did not see action against Newell's main team.

On March 10th, Cordoba came on at the half against Jockey Club Rosario and scored from the spot to help the team in a 3-0 victory. Two days later Cordoba came on at the 67th minute as the team played to a 2-2 draw against Rosario Central as their Argentina leg of training camp came to an end. It was obvious that at this point Cordoba was on the outside looking in, with fitness as the issue identified by the club and media alike.

In the final preseason match against Kansas City, Cordoba did travel with the quad but did not see any action as he was reportedly ill.

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER SEASON

Since preseason, Cordoba has played in two league games. First, he came on at the 90th minute against the LA Galaxy. He also came on in the 84th minute in Thursday's match against Colorade. It was this latest match that apparantly led to some frustration on Cordoba's part as as James Edward explained in his post game blog on May 15th:

Matias Cordoba (6) -- Only played six minutes, and he seemed extremely ticked off about it after the match. He was the first one to leave the field, and on his way out he kicked Nick Rimando's water bottle next to the goal as hard as he could. He obviously believes he should've been inserted into the game much sooner when he could've done some good.

Matias also played 58 minutes in the USOC match against San Jose as the #10. He had a wonderful takeaway that led to a beautiful assist to Yura. He followed that up with another takeaway a few minutes later, but was brought down from behind on his way toward the top of the box (with no call from the referee). Cordoba has also scored 3 goals and 2 assists in 3 reserve matches this season.

QUESTIONS

With the recent trade of Talley, and the injuries to Morales and Sturgis, Real Salt Lake's preseason depth at midfielder appears to be rather anemic. For the Colorado match, RSL had 5 midfielders available in the 18 man roster, with Kenny Cutler getting the start and Cordoba being the only one of the group on the bench. Kreis' recent comments after the Dallas match on Saturday telegraphed this, but it was still a bit surprising as Cutler was thought by many to be on the bubble when roster cuts were made prior to the season opener.

The question now is where does Cordoba's involvement with the team go from here. Although I believe that Kenny has worked hard to show that he belongs on the pitch, but it seems like if ever there was a time that Cordoba should see the pitch - it's now. If not, is this a sign that "he may be on his way out" as one informed RSL fan commented? I'm not sure the answers to this or what Kreis and the rest of the staff think about Cordoba at this point, but I for one would like to see him get a chance on the pitch during a league match. In my opinion, he did well in his one opportunity against an MLS opponent (the open cup match against San Jose).

If you look back over the stats, Cordoba has played in about 583 minutes (equivalent of 6 1/2 full games) over a combination of 12 league, preseason, open cup and reserve matches. In those matches he has scored 4 goals and recorded 4 assists. Not bad stats, but as a midfielder your play can't be judged on stats alone. It's also difficult to judge stats when you are playing against opponents and with teammates at mixed levels of skill.

From what I understand, Cordoba is a natural wide midfielder who plays box-to-box, with strong technical skills including good foot skills, good crossing ability, and high quality corner kicks, free kicks, and penalty kicks. These sound like attributes that could help our team. I assume that the coaches are seeing something that we aren't, but what is it? Is it still a fitness issue?

What are your thoughts?

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Daily Update: Tuesday May 13, 2008

RSL: Two get call from U.S. U-23 team -> Salt Lake Tribune

Wodraska: Give me wins, losses - not ties - Salt Lake Tribune/Lya Wodraska
But in the pros? One team should walk off the field happy and the other highly irked it lost. Give me a little extra free ball, free kicks, thumb wrestling between the coaches, I don't care what it takes, just come up with a decisive result.

AUDIO: Dema Kovalenko on internet radio -> Soccerisakickinthegrass.com

RSL News/Blog updates & other tidbits - > My Soapbox (recommended read on Kreis' referee complaints)

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Evening Updates: Monday May 12, 2008

Game Grades: FC Dallas vs Real Salt Lake -> 3rd Degree/Peter Welpton

Playing at Rice-Eccles stadium was already hard enough due to the surface and altitude, but when Jason Kreis actually has his young squad playing some decent soccer - well then it gets downright tough. Kudos to RSL as they dominated the match and wholly deserved the three points.

Kyle Beckerman online chat:

(courtesy RSL Communications)
Who: RSL MF Kyle Beckerman
When: Tuesday, May 13, from 1:00-1:30 p.m. MT
Where: ESPN.com SportsNation website
What: As part of ESPN2’s continuing coverage of Major League Soccer, RSL’s Kyle Beckerman will conduct an online chat on ESPN.com’s SportsNation website tomorrow afternoon from 1:00-1:30 p.m. MT. Fans can ask Beckerman anything and everything during the approximately half-hour chat, but you can rest assured that the RSL standout will have plenty to say on last weekend’s win over FC Dallas and his journey back to Denver this Thursday to square off against his former Colorado Rapids side. Fans can visit http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=20559 to go directly to the webpage for tomorrow’s

Dema on the radio today at 4:30 ->Behind the Shield

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Practice at Rice-Eccles: Friday May 9, 2008

A couple of us made it to today’s practice at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Here are a few observations:

• There was a new player participating. He has some good height. He appeared to be at least as tall as Borchers. Looked like they were trying him at outside back. I am pretty sure he is a foreigner, possibly from somewhere in Africa, but that is based on nothing other than my own questionable speculation. We didn’t really see enough to establish any kind of opinion, but he didn’t appear to be very nervous.


• Talley and Joy were no where to be seen. Sturgis and Nimo jogged around the field.


• After some basic warm-ups the players were divided into three teams of eight players each. Some members of the coaching staff were involved. They ran what at first appeared to be a somewhat complicated drill that might be difficult to describe. The area they played in had two smaller areas at each end and a dead zone in the middle. One team of eight players would begin making short passes within one of the small areas. Four players from another team would run in from the dead zone and begin trying to take the ball away. The remaining four players from that team stayed in the dead zone. After a given number of successful passes, I believe it was seven, they would attempt to cross it over the dead zone to the third team whose eight players were waiting in the other small area. If, instead, they were dispossessed they would have to immediately run to the other small area to prevent that team from completing seven consecutive passes. There was no doubt that the players were into it. There were a number of small, semi-lighthearted arguments over this and that which reminded me of the one sided view that players, coaches and fans always take during an actual match. Dema seemed to be somehow involved in most of these. It is really hard not to like him. I have no idea what rewards there are for these type of drills outside of making a case for playing time, but there was no lack of motivation at all.


• They followed this up with a 9v9 half-field scrimmage with three teams again. Williams is looking very good right now. Findley still does not look sharp. Horst is very vocal, especially for a rookie, and appears to be coming along well. Kevin Reiman looked good working the ball down the flanks with his quick feet. Robin Fraser participated and missed a couple of open shots on goal. The rest of the coaching staff were happy to give him a hard time.


• They finished up with some work on, what else, finishing. Cordoba looked especially good here today.


• The overall mood of the practice was intense and competitive, yet somehow laid-back at the same time. It is encouraging to see the way this team practices. Can they start to translate this into results in the near future?

Update

Just received some new information:

The outside back seen at practice today is a trialist named Yombe Williams, who was a teammate of David Horst's at Old Dominion and was drafted by Kansas City in the most recent SuperDraft. His look with RSL is independent of the Talley deal, and Garth/Jason will be looking at several options for the open roster spot.

Ian Joy did rest today because of the bone spur, but RSL hopes he will be back out there next week.

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Opinion: Carey Talley

Carey Talley, Farewell Friend

A Realslfan Opinion

As you probably know by now, Real Salt Lake has traded Carey Talley to Chivas for a future 2nd round pick. -> Deseret News/James Edward

Some would say, "good riddance" or "it's about time". I may be in the minority on this, but I'm not comfortable with either of these sentiments. It's true that Carey wasn't the most skilled player. It's true that Carey wasn't up to his previous form, circa 2006. And it's true that he had a difficult first few games of the season.

However, I believe that Carey has meant more to this club than any of us really know. If you attended a practice you'd quickly realize that Carey was the vocal leader for us, and was a mentor for the young players in practice. This aspect of his role on the team was vastly underrated. There is a reason that Carey has been our captain over the last couple of seasons. I also believe that as much as anyone could, Carey was the glue that held our team together during our difficult season in 2007. Finally, I think that anyone who knows Carey much knows that he was extremely competitive. Whether it was on the field trying to get a late equalizer or in practice trying to best his teammates in a drill, he gave it all. For these reasons, I think we should bid adieu to Carey with a kind and grateful "Farewell friend".

Now the natural question is why trade Carey now? Was it to free up cap space? (maybe) Was a 2nd draft pick to tempting to pass up? (doubtful) Was it to free up a roster spot for a impending roster addition? (who knows) Is it a signal that Matias Cordoba has earned the confidence of his coaching staff, and will continue to see a bigger role on this team? Only time will tell.

Where does this leave our midfield? For a group originally touted as very deep, this coupled with Sturgis' injury leaves us quite thin. We have two "wing" players (Beckerman and Williams) who both play very tight in the formation and converge toward the goal in the opponents end. We have a central midfielder, formerly a striker (Kovalenko) playing defensive mid. We also have a player that Garth described as a box-to-box player with strong technical skill (Cordoba) who has largely played a playmaker role with the team but primarily in a reserve role. Cordoba is the only player who may be a "natural" wide player as he predominantly played that position in his native Argentina. Either way we are lacking in true wide midfielders. Also since Beckerman has established himself much more in the attacking end, its doubtful to see him moving back to a holding role. This fact, and the fact that Dema isn't naturally a defensive midfielder means that we will be a bit shorthanded at this position with Sturgis currently hurt and on tap for the Olympics later this year. If we do make a roster move, I'd assume that it would be to address one of these two issues.

Then again an outside back is a real possibility as well (see our practice update coming soon).

Either way, let's all come together and bid best wishes and "Farewell friend".

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A View From the Other Side: RSL -vs- FCD

Real Salt Lake versus FC Dallas

from the perspective of Jay (aka FC Zippy on Big Soccer)

This Week FC Dallas head off to Utah to face Real Salt Lake. No, I’m not going to comment about the Mormon stereotype if you promise to stop believing we’re all cowboys. While no one would argue that anything like a fierce rivalry exists in the minds of FC Dallas fans about this game, there are still some heartfelt emotions at play this week.

First of all is Jason Kreis, beloved all-time leading Dallas Burn scorer. We all love Jason Kreis.

And then there is Dema Kovalenko. Dema is possibly the most hated MLS player of all time from the perspective of FC Dallas fans. You see, Dema was originally drafted by the Dallas Burn out of Indiana University and then demanded to be traded to the Chicago Fire. Dallas complied and Dema repaid them by first breaking the leg of fan-favorite Brandon Pollard, effectively ending his career, and then later breaking the leg of Ronnie O’Brien. The irony is Jason Kreis was on the pitch for both of those instances.

FC Dallas fans love Juan Toja. Please keep your Dema away.

And then there is Kyle Beckerman. Beckerman has been part of three Colorado Teams that have upset Dallas in the playoffs. Let me just say this: Kyle Beckerman’s flowing locks represent playoff failure to FC Dallas fans. I can assure you more than one prayer for divine justice upon Mr. Beckerman’s knees has been uttered by otherwise rational and decent human beings who just happen to support FC Dallas.

Oh, and let us not forget The Plastic Pitch. No one, and I sincerely mean no one, will be happier for the new stadium to reach completion with it’s glorious new digs and – best of all – real, honest to God, grown, maintained natural pitch. By the way, congratulations to you all – nice job getting the stadium financed and built. The pictures appear to show an awesome stadium in an absolutely picturesque location that has many of us thrilled for you.

So Dallas needs a win. After a solid start to the season, we saw our boys go down against the New England Revolution reserves. Then we journeyed out to Northern California to come away with only a point against the Earthquakes. Now, we need a win; two points from the last nine will not do. Many FC Dallas fans’ current sanity rests upon a positive result in Salt Lake. Trust me; FC Dallas fans are pretty sure they won’t be able to receive MLS Joy from depending on Houston to continue to be 2008’s Biggest Flop. But, my dear God, it would be so sweet.

With all the emotional stuff out of the way, let’s take a look at who and what FC Dallas is likely to bring onto the FieldTurf of Rice-Eccles. FC Dallas have mainly deployed a 3-5-2 or a 3-4-3 formation this year. In the back, new addition Duilio Davino anchors a defense that has given up only five goals in six matches, three of those against Hated Houston in one match alone. You almost forget Davino is out there. He has a definite lack of speed, but his positioning is exemplary and he has been very quick to adjust to MLS speed.

In midfield, new addition Andre Rocha, on loan from Brazilian sister club CA Paranaense, plays centrally on the right. Rocha is still getting his MLS legs, but seems to show something new each match. The central combination of Rocha and Pablo Ricchetti is vital to the FC Dallas possession and counter-attack game. Leading the charge forward in midfield is Juan Carlos Toja. Toja is just fun to watch, and he is the key to the FC Dallas attack. Unfortunately, he is lacking in fitness so far this season and his form has been down from last year.

Another player to watch is Dax McCarty, a player you will cheer for. Seriously. Maybe not Saturday, but this summer he will be the kid with the red hair who is literally all over the pitch for the U.S. U-23’s at the Olympics. Dax has been playing wide right for Dallas, but is now hampered with a sports hernia that should seriously limit his minutes. He most likely will not start.

Up front, Dallas features 6’3” Kenny Cooper and the speedy and left-footed Arturo Alvarez as his foil. Cooper leads the team in goals, but often drifts out wide far enough that many of you in the lower seats will be closer to Kenny than Kenny is to the goal. Kenny, play the damned central channel already!!!

And, finally, left-wing has been a bit of a mess for us this year. David Wagenfuhr was slotted in as the starter, but began complaining of headaches shortly after a pre-season friendly with CA Paranaense. Apparently, David’s got concussion syndrome and his career hangs in the balance. Blake Wagner has worked hard, but had very mixed results in taking over. Wagner has tremendous speed and good moves, but he’s young and still very mistake prone.

So, offensively, FC Dallas has been very mixed. They are very dangerous with the long-ball over the top. However, possession has been an issue. And even when possession has been maintained, creating chances in the final third has been iffy at best. The Dallas offense has been both very good and very bad moving off the ball and some of us are wondering about overall team fitness. This leads to an insane number of balls played from the back. Some of us scream.

And now the part you’ve been waiting for (already)… my projected line-up:

-------------------------Sala----------------------------

-------Moor----------Davino-----------Serioux----------

----Rocha-----Ricchetti-----Saragosa-----Wagner-------

--------------------Toja--------------------------------

------Cooper-------------------------Alvarez-----------

Note: Rocha moves wide right with McCarty limited. And I could be wrong

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A Real World Review: May 5, 2008

A Real World Review

A Review of Week 6 for RSL

(Courtesy of Jeremy Horton, aka "I Believe in Kreis")

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.

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RSL -vs- LAG Match: May 3, 2008

REAL SALT LAKE -vs- LA GALAXY

Saturday May 3, 2008

RSL:2, LAG:2

RSL's fast start slowed by Beckham ->MLSnet/John Coon

POST GAME QUOTES (Courtesy of RSL Communications)

REAL SALT LAKE HEAD COACH JASON KREIS

On the lack of goals after halftime:

“I was surprised. Both teams had plenty of opportunities and you would have thought there would have been more, especially with four in the first half.”

On David Beckham’s first goal of the night:

“The play is a non-issue if a defender clears that ball out. He chose to try a pass when it should have been cleared out and it happened to go to David Beckham, who put it away quite nicely.”
On the change of formation and his substitution pattern in the second half:

“When we’re at home we’re going to go for wins, and when we’re away we’re going to go for wins. I think that’s going to be the mentality of this team. We’ve got a group of guys that can handle it and a group that can embrace that aggressive mentality.”

On the play of GK Nick Rimando
“He was there when we needed him the most and there to make the special saves. I think there were one or two saves in the second half that were really special.”

On the 25,500 in attendance at Rice-Eccles Stadium:

“I thought it was a fantastic crowd and I thought we disappointed that crowd. I thought we should have, could have, done better in that match to thank them for coming out and supporting us because they were fantastic.”

REAL SALT LAKE MF JAVIER MORALES

On getting the two first half assists:

“I feel really good. I was very happy with them, but I would have liked them more if we could have won.”

On his duel assists tying him for the League lead with Beckham:

“It’s just a statistic. I’m just trying to do my best for the team and trying to get us a win at home.”

On giving up the two-goal lead:

“I think that they have players, like Beckham, that have a lot of virtue. They kind of came back through the ability of one player, and that player just beat us. The first goal really took us by surprise, and the second one just happened so fast. I think we have to look at the positives in that we played a pretty good game overall.”

REAL SALT LAKE MF DEMA KOVALENKO

On the back-and-forth second half and the result:

“They had chances. Nicky [Rimando] came up big for us. We had a couple of good chances too. It’s soccer, it’s football; that’s that way it goes. You create chances and you score, you win the game. You don’t score, you lose, you tie; it’s what happens. That’s why it’s the best game in the world.”

LA GALAXY HEAD COACH RUUD GULLIT

Overall thoughts on the match:

“After the game there was a feeling that we should have won this game, but if you saw the first 20 minutes, you know, it was incredible. I think that the most difficult part is we tried to practice on turf, but nothing is like this turf, therefore players had difficulty getting into the game. We did things I didn’t think we’d normally do, but after the 20 minutes this team battled back. This team should be very proud of itself, how they fought for this. It was a good result; if you’d ask me before the game if I’d settle for a draw, I would knowing the circumstances.”

On the Galaxy’s struggles in the first 20 minutes:

“If you don’t mark and you give space to the opposition, everyone can play a good match. We were too wide open, too much space between the lines and the players, and it was frustrating to see from the sideline. Finally, finally, they got it.

“Salt Lake knows how to play on this pitch, they play every two weeks on it; that’s a huge advantage. The fact that, after 2-0, we just recovered so well it was incredible. I saw [us] all of a sudden digging in, not giving any space, and [RSL] had difficulties getting behind us. In the second half, we also changed some things to get tighter and that made it even more difficult for Salt Lake. I thought we had opportunities today to win this game if not for some good saves by their goalkeeper. I’m happy with the result.”

On the play of MF Landon Donovan:

“He still had the opportunities to score goals. I think Landon played an excellent game. Of course you can’t score every time, but he was getting in position to score. For me, Landon played a very good game.”

On the quality of David Beckham’s goals:

“I think the first goal was the best one. On the dead ball, you have time. On the first he passed the ball to the far corner. That tells you his quality. Before it was Landon, now it’s David.”

LA GALAXY MF DAVID BECKHAM

Thoughts on the match:

“It was a good game in the end. I think we started off terrible in the first 20 minutes. We didn’t close after them as a team and we got scared of them. And then a couple of tackles started going in and we livened up and we started getting back into the game. I scored the two goals, of course, but it was the work that was done before that that created the enthusiasm for the team. At the end of the game, we would have been happy with a win, and so would they, but as far as 2-2, it’s the right result.”

On his first goal:

“We started coming back into the game just before then and when you’re coming back into the game it’s important that you keep your eyes on the play. It was my turn to score the goals tonight instead of Landon, but it’s important that all the players take a part of scoring goals and winning games and getting the team back into the game. So tonight it was my turn and I’m sure in other games to come it will be other players that do the same.”

On whether he still gets excited when approaching a free kick:

“I’m like a little kid every time a free kick is given on the edge of the box. The excitement comes into myself and most of the time I can score them. Recently I’ve had a couple which have hit the wall, but tonight I was happy with the free kick and also happy with the first goal. But like I’ve said, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”

On the play of RSL tonight:

“Every one of their players contributed tonight. It’s hard to pick players out because personally I look at how the team played. They’ve got good togetherness and they’ve got some good players on their team. Overall their team played some good football and worked hard, so you’ve got to congratulate them.”

LA GALAXY FW LANDON DONOVAN

On coming out of the game with a tie:

“Given the first half-hour, we’ll absolutely take it. I would say we had some chances to win the game, they also had quite a few chances too, so a tie was probably fair in the end.”

On MF David Beckham’s two goals:

“He was terrific. Not only that, he could have had a chance to score another one, and could have provided a few assists still in the game for us. But when we needed him he stepped up and made a difference. That’s what you hope to get from him, and that’s what he gave us tonight, and he was terrific.”

(click to enlarge)

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A View From the Other Side

DCU -vs- Real Salt Lake

Courtesy of BolivianFeugo (aka Andrew Esprella)

[Note: Prior to each match we intend to have the a preview of the match, provided by a supporter of the opposing team. This is the first such preview, and we thank Andrew for his contribution on short notice.]


First, let me start off by congratulating Real Salt Lake on their win at their home turf COMPLETELY dominating DC United. Two very strong points that I noticed with in the two first goals were 3 men, Fabian Espindola, Dema Kovalenko, and Kyle Beckerman. These are 3 guys that definitely knew how to play at their own house to their advantage, and to a weak backline which DC United decided to try out, which consisted of Dominic Mediate on the left, in the center Big Strong Gonzalo Peralta, and on the right Veteran Bryan Namoff. A 3 man backline can be very good IF it consists of 3 very strong Defensive minded players who can hold their ground, now MAYBE we could have slowed down the beating if Martinez (our strongest and most experienced defender) was in the back given his pace, and control over the game, and his clean tackles but Coach Soehn decided to rest him this game, along with our play maker Marcelo Gallardo as our boys deserved it after a tiring two-game series with Pachuca.

With that said, our weak spot in the game was the defense with an inexperienced Mediate… whom in my opinion should NEVER start in the back ever again, unless we are in some sort of crisis (god forbid). And Peralta didn’t have much of a game great game either, constantly getting roughed up by Deuchar yet being close to 6’3 and pretty burley for his size.

Beyond that we had nothing going for us, no fire in the front, nothing really working for us in our four-man midfield, beyond Moreno trying to act as the playmaker (experimentally put in the midfield), with his holding and touch, yet his long passes were a big problem that game because they could not produce what a Gallardo pass could.

The fact is we got dominated by a very strong at home squad with proven strengths in the midfield with Beckerman and Kovalenko. Also the strong, young Argentine contingent that is Espindola, Morales, and Mantilla I expect to play a big role in the rematch at RFK. We most definitely will be watching Espindola as he scored that great goal against us in Salt Lake, and given the other argentines respectable résumés I expect all players to be guarded heavily.

Looking at the records for both teams, with RSL having only 1 win (against us), 2 losses, and one tie this game in DC is very important for RSL as they need to work on the number sitting in their W column. The same goes with United (1-3-0), sitting last place in our division, we need a win to regain back the support from a lot of the fans because at this time many are very disappointed in play so far, as our team with our first DP that is Gallardo was expected to be the next coming of Marco Etcheverry, who so far has not quite lived up to the hype, by only seeing limited flashes of his ability. The bottom line is that Gallardo as our team’s engine is not failing but succeeding at what he does best, finding open players, opening up space, creating dangerous through balls for the forwards to finish. Truthfully it is not his fault that we have started out so bad, it comes down to how fresh our defense and offense is. It seems though that a lot of fans are having Gomez withdrawals, wishing that he was back in place of Gallardo, or trying to compare the two. The truth of the matter is that both are two different

Up front we are missing a very much needed Olsen who knew how to work the right side, with his passing, holding, touch, and creativity along with his decent strikes on goal. Instead because of injury we are left with a universal player who is Devon Mctavish, who as a temporary fix is nothing close to what Olsen brought to United, in any of the categories above mentioned. Up front also we are lacking finishing, with Moreno for a couple years now not being the same finisher he was in his past seasons with DC and more so a withdrawn forward that doesn’t score as much but can hold the ball and open up space for others. He seems to be getting a handle on Gallardo’s play which is good. What DC is lacking also is a very strong finisher that was Emilio last year, he happened to be at the right place at the right time to finish off those perfect opportunities up front. Well sadly it seems the league has finally caught on to his style of play, and are shutting him down, it also does not help that he came a little out of shape to Pre-season and seems to still be struggling with his fitness

Speaking on our defense/Goalkeeper situation, we have replaced a somewhat shakey semi-inexperienced back line that was Bobby Boswell and an aging/slow Greg Vanney with a speedier Gonzalo Martinez, an ex. Colombian International and a Gonzalo Martinez coming from a strong Argentine Second division side being their captain to add strength to our defense. Both have their strengths over our early American counterparts, and in my opinion surpass them both in foot skill, touch, and defensive ability. But it seems that Marc Burch once considered a strong Offensive wing Defender with semi-decent defensive skill for being a converted forward, has completely lost any defensive vision or skill he had before. We have a hole in the back left and it seems to be a big problem that teams have figured out about. In order to come out with a good result it will largely depend on that left side being able to close down any threats.

On the goalkeeping situation it is the exact opposite compared to the defense, we have lost a veteran keeper that was Troy Perkins to Valarenga (Norway), who was a great fit for the MLS, very athletic, not scared of confrontational tackles with forwards and just all around very strong in the net. Now what did we replace Perkins with? Zack Wells, a 2nd string keeper for Houston Dynamo that happened to play pretty well versus a semi-strong Costa Rican Puntarenas, and going down fighting to last years CCC champ Pachuca in the next round. I so far have not been all that impressed with Wells. He shows a lack of Goalkeeping vision and intuition of how to keep himself positioned or when to go for the ball in that he seems fearful of possibly getting hurt. Although the last part is my own theory it very well could be true and just shows right now why DC fans miss Troy so much at this point, as he brought strength, leadership, to our backline with the defenders. That is also another issue that others haven’t really touched on, our 2 central defenders first language is Spanish and personally I feel although Carvallo went down in flames against RSL, is still deserving of a second chance to play at home and see how well he could do with our 2 strongest defenders understanding him completely.

The bottom line for this game is DC has to win it, or else more people will continue to lose faith, this will all fall on our forwards and Goalkeeper. We have to score in order to win this, and we have to stay strong in the back to not concede any dumb goals which could be prevented. As generic as that response sounds it is all true from my perspective.

With all that said, I for see Tommy Soehn fielding a very conservative 4-4-2 that has been proven to work so far this season:



------------------------------Wells-------------------------------

-------Namoff--------Peralta-------Martinez------------Burch

------------------------------Simms------------------------------
Mctavish----------------------------------------------------Fred
-----------------------------Gallardo----------------------------
-----------------------------------------------Moreno-----------
--------------------------Emilio----------------------------------

I don’t foresee Coach Soehn to gamble much this game unless we happen to maybe get a good lead going, I predict Franco Niell coming in at the 70-ish minute to replace Moreno or at the same time that could also be Santino Quaranta, who has been given the job of possibly replacing an aging Jaime Moreno as both play very similar. Personally I would like to see Tommy try Niell up front with Moreno working together up front to start, but I doubt that will happen as it seems we most likely will play it safe, I assume. I see the rest of the team staying in for the remainder of the game beyond those 2 subs depending on their performance.

This Saturday it seems that we will have a great and enjoyable game with two sides needing a win badly, and will be in for a dog fight for those 3 points. Although I predict a DC win (trying to think optimistically), I don’t think it will be anywhere close to easy.

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Player Profile: Dema Kovalenko

Dema Kovalenko

Position: Midfielder
Date of Birth: Aug 28, 1977 (30)
Place of Birth: Kiev, Ukraine
Height: 5 ft 8 in
Weight: 177
Previous Clubs: New York Red Bulls, FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhya, DC United, FC St. Pauli, Chicago Fire
National Team Exp: none
Jersey Number: #21
Current Status: Senior Roster
How Acquired: trade with NYRB

Personal summary: Born in Ukraine. Emigrated to the US in 1992. Played soccer at the University of Indiana. Dema is known for his fiery personality and has been loved by the fans for every team he has played for. In 2008, he became a US citizen.

Professional summary/highlights: Originally allocated to the Dallas Burn, but let the league know that he wanted to play for Chicago, and the league made that happen. Started out as a forward before moving to attacking midfielder. Most known for two tackles involving broken legs. In his rookie season, he made a dangerous tackle on burn defender, Brandon Pollard and broke his leg which ended his career. Dema was traded to DC United in 2002 for Justin Mapp. In 2003, Dema made another tackle on a player, Ronnie O’Brien, resulting in a broken leg. Dema played a key role for DC for several years before reaching a contract dispute and leaving for Ukraine for a year in 2006. He came back in late 2006 with the Red Bulls playing a bit more of a role player with the team.

Webpages/Myspace/Facebook:

Youtube/video links:

Other links: MLS Player profile: Dema Kovalenko/MLSnet, Wikipedia Page: Dema Kovalenko/Wiki

Keepin It Real Expectations for 2008: In a number of ways, the trade for Dema didn’t seem like a good fit for RSL. We already had a seemingly full midfield at the time. However, my impression of Dema is that he is a guy who just finds a way to contribute, and will play a valuable role for this team. Maybe not a full time starter, but he will see plenty of time on the field.

Fans Scorecard Ratings: Kovalenko Rating

Interesting Fact/tidbits/quote: Played briefly for FC St. Pauli, the same team that Ian Joy came from.

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PRACTICE AT THE FIELDHOUSE MARCH 20, 2008

After being at the last two practices outdoors, I can say that I like them much better than the indoor practices. The abundance of light outdoors makes the photography much easier/better. Here is a summary of today:

First half hour was fitness, stretching, etc. Next was a line of 3-man drills. They then broke up into two groups. One group took shots on the keeper from various spots. The other group did a drill that focused on spacing, moving the ball quickly, and making accurate passes. (BTW - of what I saw Cordoba seems to have real quality passing ability). They then did a short field scrimmage, and afterwords did more fitness activities. I left the 2 hour practice after 2 1/2 hours and they were just winding down.

Injury updates: Rimando and Kovalenko in full duty. Wingert training on his own still but looked to be going at full speed. Espindola sat out of the main drills, and was icing down his knee at the end.

Absentees: Oly guys of course, and Borchers. Rumor has it that Nat was closing on a house or condo. I think he was still filling out his NCAA basketball bracket.

Not much else that was noteworthy.

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