Underway – In the Nation’s Capital
Well the action is underway in the hostile confines of RFK Stadium and we’ll be here with you throughout the match. We’ll just get right to it with the RSL starting XI (identical to last week’s match with one exception):
GK – Nick Rimando; DF – Chris Wingert, Nat Borchers, Jamison Olave (the one change, making his MLS debut), Ian Joy; MF – Carey Talley, Dema Kovalenko, Kyle Beckerman, Javier Morales; FW – Kenny Deuchar, Robbie Findley.
Take the jump to read about the action…
9th minute: We’ve had a few half chances, but nothing too dangerous as of yet. Carey Talley and Fred collided a couple minutes ago resulting in both guys receiving treatment and Carey being shown yellow. Fred just retaliated (but against the wrong guy) and took Dema Kovalenko out, earning himself a caution.
14th minute: RSL has owned possession in the DC half for most of the last 10 minutes but nothing coming yet.
19th minute: DC has found their legs a bit in the last four or five minutes. However, the steady hand (or foot) of Nat Borchers thwarted one Luciano Emilio chance and Nick Rimando made a save on a Marcello Gallardo shot from distance.
23rd minute: United makes their first sub of the match as Mark Burch replaces Fred in the midfield as the Brazilian has picked up a knock (surely a result of his previous collision with Carey Talley.)
27th minute: Since we got set up a little late today, we’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of the fans for coming down to Brewvies tonight. The turnout is great and we got a great set up here. The game is up on the big screen in all its HD glory. The RSL merchandise department is also set up down here offering all the 2008 merchandise (for 30% off, what a deal!) at their booth. There’s still plenty of time to get down here and catch the rest of the action so come on down!
31st minute: An unfortunate break for RSL as a DC cross strikes the outstretched arm of Dema Kovalenko in the box and the home-side is given the PK. Jaime Moreno steps up and chips the resulting spot kick into the back of the net for a 1-0 United lead.
38th minute: A strong combination through the midfield ends in an Ian Joy cross to Javi Morales at the far post but the Argentine playmaker sees his stretching volley saved by DC ‘keeper Zach Wells.
41st minute: We’ve got another DC United substitution as MF Rod Dyachenko is introduced in place of rookie Dan Stratford. This one’s a little bit of a head scratcher as Stratford didn’t appear to be injured and we haven’t even reached the break.
Halftime: After two minutes of stoppage time the teams are headed to the locker rooms. It was an unfortunate break for the boys of Salt Lake as they trail 1-0 at the break for the second week in a row. RSL looks to get their offense rolling in the second stanza as they search for their first points on the road in this young season.
Before we get rolling in the second half let’s get a little update on what’s happened around the soccer world today. Kicking off early (about 5:45 a.m. MT) Chelsea made things very, very interesting atop the Premier League table with a 2-1 victory over Manchester United to bring the teams level at the top. The next two weeks will be pressure packed in the tight race as ManU holds an insurmountable 16 goal lead in the goal differential tie breaker. In MLS action from the day Toronto earned their third straight victory behind two goals from Amado Guevara to continue their hot streak. Columbus also holds a 1-0 halftime lead over defending champs Houston Dynamo as we speak.
49th minute: We’re back underway and the action has been fairly intense to start the second session. Kyle Beckerman has caused some early problems for the United backline.
52nd minute: Referee Baldomero Toledo has just whistled for the second penalty against RSL on the evening. This time it was either Carey Talley or Chris Wingert being called for bringing down Luciano Emilio from behind at the top of the box. Fairly iffy call from our vantage point. And Moreno steps back up and slots this one into the upper left corner for a 2-0 DC lead.
58th minute: Javi Morales is taken out at the top of the United box, earning RSL a great opportunity on the free kick. Before the restart Jason Kreis makes his first two changes as Andy Williams replaces Ian Joy and Yura Movsisyan takes Robbie Findley’s spot up top. Javi’s beautiful bending freekick rocks the left post just like his shot against DC here in Salt Lake. RSL just can’t seem to catch a break tonight.
66th minute: RSL works the ball beautifully through the middle, unlocking the defense with ball to Yura on the left side of the box. The young striker beats his marker but steps on the ball and loses possession. As we say that Jaime Moreno becomes distributer as he finds an unmarked Santino Quaranta down the right side and Quaranta’s one-touch slips inside the far post for a 3-0 D.C. lead.
71st minute: United looks content to pack it back and pick their spots with a dangerous counterattack.
73rd minute: Jason Kreis makes his final move as he replaces Beckerman with rookie defender Tony Beltran. This marks the second time Beltran has seen the pitch on the season after coming on as a substitute against DC here in SLC.
77th minute: RSL pulls one back off a Morales corner kick as Carey Talley pushes the ball across the line with his thigh. 3-1 DC
80th minute: Marcello Gallardo pulls one back with an unbelievable rocket at the far post past a diving Rimando. That one could be your Sierra Mist Goal of the Week folks. Simply stunning. 4-1 United
87th minute: Emotions boil over as Gallardo and Kovalenko go jaw-to-jaw in the midfield and each earns a yellow.
89th minute: Jamison Olave gets his name on the discipline sheet as the big Colombian picks up a caution for an aggressive tackle on Quaranta just outside the RSL box.
End of Game: And that’s all folks. This one was closer than the final scoreline would indicate. RSL was put on its heels by a couple early PKs and was never able to get themselves back in it. Regardless, United leaves after avenging their 4-0 thumping in Salt Lake two weeks ago. Thanks again to everyone who came out to Brewvies tonight, the turnout was strong and the folks here were great to us. We’re out for the night, thanks again.
26 Apr 2008 04:48 pm RSL HQ 12 comments
Jason,
You have done well to build the back line!!
Mid field looks solid, Beckerman, Morales and Beltran!!
Now please get Real a goal producing forward,
Findley is a solid maybe, Deucher can not produce alone. Espindola and Movisisan are inconsistant.
Now is the time to go out and get a real up front threat, and with Fulham probably being relegated, lets spend some coin and go for Brian Mcbride.
Utah is supporting this team and now is the time to bring in a provan solid goal scorer.
No, the score was fair. I have lost all patience with Kreis. This team has had the same fundamental problems, since the beginning of the season, but Kreis doesn’t seem to recognize some basics of soccer:
From the USSF coaching manual:
“Principals of Attack
D. Width- When a team is in possession of the ball it has to use all the area available in which to play. Successful teams use all the width of the field and as much of the lenght as the offsides rule will allow.”
Kreis: YOUR TEAM HAS NO WIDTH. Is it a surprise to you that you that DCU got its two goals in the run of play off crosses from the wing? You keep trying to force the ball down the middle. Hey, did you see how DCU scored its two goals in the run of play, and where they were the most dangerous all game long?? Oh yeah, the flanks…
Kreis: You don’t change the point of attack. You have a wide open field on the weak side and your players still try to make 2 foot passes to another player equally covered by a defender.
Kreis: Your “target forward” has now scored 1 goal in 4.5 matches. Was he even in a dangerous position where if he had got the ball he could have scored? Findley got more head balls than he did! Findley has no first touch. He is a good late game replacement for pace, but that is all he offers!
Kreis: Your team is incompetent in the attacking 3rd of the pitch. You look totally lost.
Kreis: Why are you playing Kovlenko, Talley, Beckerman together? You need someone who is offensive minded! have you noticed everytime you put Williams into the game for one of those players that the midfield plays better?
New players…..same RSL result!!!!!
new garbage, same stink! Hey front office, how about putting you money where your mouth is and start refunding season ticket holders for each loss. Some of us have been shelling out our hard earned money for several seasons now and have seen no result. Don’t we deserve something for our loyalty?
Fire Kreis!
I don’t understand why we keep playing the 3-4-3 formation when we go down a couple of goals. The last time we did that (at Chivas) they scored on us just as DC United pounced on us in that formation and scored a couple of goals. The 3-4-3 won’t work if the dang midfielders won’t feed the ball to the forwards! The midfielders keep trying to run the ball up instead of feeding it to the forwards. Look who gets the most shots, it is the midfielders like Williams (who couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn…) and Beckerman. I just don’t agree with that. Deuchar is too slow though, I don’t know what to do about that. I haven’t even seen him take a shot on goal, just a couple of headers. Movysisian (spelling?) drives me nuts. I laughed out loud when he tripped on the ball trying to do crossovers and fancy footwork. He’s like 6 feet in front of the goal and won’t do anything with it. Everybody on the team takes way too long to decide to do something with the ball. By the time our forwards decide to take a shot, the entire defense of DC was behind the ball already. And what is up with our back line?? We leave our wings WIDE open and it’s driving me nuts. We did the same thing in the Toronto game, we just let the wingers stay wide open so they could send in cross after cross. I agree with Timoteo in that we need to spread out and move around a little bit. We are too scrunched in the center.
I don’t know what we have to do to win. But, obviously this isn’t working. Although we have a different team with better strengths now, we are still getting the same results. I also am starting to lose patience. We gotta start making something happen or RSL will have a lot of empty seats when the new stadium opens…
Saturday was like watching the Utah Jazz of old!!!!
Jason you need to put a fire under the ass of Beckerman in the middle. He is supposed to be the leader and he has been inconsistent, slow, and his presence isn’t seen. It was like watching the complacent and old Karl Malone show. I think you need to cut the complacent attitudes by benching these guys and giving a chance to a proving player. We may then see some drive and determination to win. Moreover, maybe these superstars will perform.
Finally, Bench Talley, when he smiled after the second penalty was call(irregardless if he thought it was a bad foul, he should have never tackled from behind in the box) I wanted to throw my controller through the TV. His play has been horrible. Trade him for a late rounder in the next superdraft!
Rimando, Great game!!! You are the only reason along with Borchers that we have had any chance!
Boooooooooo
Ok, after rsl played Chicago Fire, one of the big bosses of the team stated in a local tv station, when he was asked when is rsl going to bring a key(famous) player, like the galaxy and the fire, his respond was, that the team is in the process of building up. Come on, the layton lancers had a better chance against DC. This is not rsl fist season, to make money, you need to spend money, bring a key player and build upon it, look at Chicago for example, Blanco made a big difference in that club. whether you like the guy or not, he is good, and most important, he knows what hes doing. which apperanty is what we are lacking of. Don’t get me wrong, Im a “Real” Salt Lake fan, and I hate to see them loose, not only games, but hope from the fans. Maybe they need to be more offensive instead of defensive, change they’re line up, I like the 3-4-3 formation, but in order to play like this, you need speed, once you can control the ball, and you combine that with speed, you can do a lot of wonderful thinks with the ball, if you dont believe ask Ronaldinho. rooney or even Beckam. I just hope the best for the team.
ps. if you need a new coach I like to take the responsability. I know what Im capable of, trust me.
Some observations:
I dont really know what else to think about this match. Completely mediocre. Frankly I think this was the worst match yet. Our “No presence” in the attacking third is KILLING us.
Offense: I think that we are playing wider than most acknowledge. Problem is that everyone wants to settle the cross, dribble through some defenders, and then maybe shoot. What!? As a whole, our mids and forwards take too long to shoot. This is a chronic problem that left unsolved is the greatest weakness in our attack. Movsisyan is more guilty than most. (not my pick for a late game offensive sub)
Midfield: Better passing than the first half of the TFC game, but still uninspiring. This is where our play lacks width. We tend to get caught on one side or the center. That is easy picking for an aggressive mid willing to use the whole field. Oh, and can we PLEASE get Talley off the field? When will we get rid of this guy!? Take any deal you can. I’d take a crate of Girl Scout cookies if anyone would take him off our hands. And he is the captain!?
Defense: Olave I think had a quality start. After Rimando talked to him about using his size it was all positives. He still looks a bit timid, but I think his size will prove valuable in the back. And as usual, Rimando comes up big, again.
This is where we lost the game. Bad penalties aside DCU killed us on two amazing crosses and finishes. Borchers missed the ball on the first cross and Quaranta punished us. The second I’m gonna give to Talley. Talley: You can’t give the guy ten yards–you had no reason to be so far off him. Watch the replay if you don’t believe me. If you’re on him, there’s no cross (or at least not a great one).
Coaching: As far as the 3-4-3 formation goes. When youre down 2-0 with 30 minutes left and your forwards have done nothing, its time to put more pressure up front. Losing 3-0 is the same as losing 2-0, but I agree with Ozzie to do this you need speed and dropping Findley for Movsisyan up front is a mistake. I think the most crucial mistake of the match for RSL were the late game substitutions. Talley is the weakest spot on the field and not taking him out hurts us. Kries needs to figure this out.
Also, Kries needs to address the Deucher problem. A target forward scoring only once in 4 games!? Its just not working. What’s worse is how many close, relatively unguarded shots he’s missed. This I think is a combo problem of coaching and skill.
You can argue the post-penalty momentum thing, but the fact is we still lost. RSL’s only goal came courtesy of Talley’s groin. DCU simply played much better than we did. I see most of these problems as coaching issues.
I can’t ever go to the teams practices (b/c of work), but I would be very interested in watching Kries and the coaching staff at a practice.
Same pile of crap just a different season.
*Quote: Borchers missed the ball on the first cross and Quaranta punished us.
My mistake. I just watched the two goals again. Borchers and Talley mess up on the same play, the second one. The first cross was simply bad marking all around. Our defense just does nothing, totally non aggressive…probably for fear of another penalty i guess.
But seriously, that Gallardo goal was freakin amazing. One touch…why can’t we do that!?
Why can we bring big time names to this city, is this the same crap as the NBA? Players just do not want to come to play in Utah. If that is the case this franchise is not going anywhre, and I will with my 11 season tickets. If we change players every season maybe is not the players it is time for a Coach change.