Post-game Wrap-up: COL 2, RSL 0
Defending what’s yours is never an easy task, and Real Salt Lake found that out tonight as the Colorado Rapids got the first shot off in this year’s Rocky Mountain Cup series with their 2-0 victory over Salt Lake at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. It’s gonna be awhile before Real Salt Lake gets another shot at its archrival (August 29th, to be exact), so we’ll expect plenty of stored up “admiration” from the RSL faithful when the Rapids visit Rice-Eccles later in the summer.
In the meantime, you can get all the details and reaction from tonight’s contest by checking out the MLSnet.com recap and the post-game quote sheet (after the jump).
REAL SALT LAKE
Head Coach Jason Kreis
“I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t come out with a better mentality in the second half. Typically we have seen a team that responds well to half times and responds well in the second half and picks up their play. Tonight that wasn’t the case for us at all. I think there was a bit of sharpness that was lacking tonight. The play was a little bit loose all over the place. I think both teams could say the same thing. Maybe it is a little bit of fatigue. We have played a few games now in a couple of weeks so that may have played a part. This is the second team we have played with a 3-5-2. I don’t think that it gave us a whole lot of problems in the first half. The players may have been a little confused about what was going on. I think the players made a bigger deal out of it then it was. When you have a player like Christian (Gomez), you have to keep on idea of where he is at all times. Kenny (Cutler) was charged with the responsibility for keeping on eye on where Christian was.”
Midfielder Kyle Beckerman
“It was just two average teams and it got to a point where the first team to score was going to win the game. They got it, they were sharp at the start of the second half and they got rewarded for it. (The first half) was solid, both sides weren’t very dangerous. It was kind of a stalemate, and then it kind of continued, but they we sharp and we were sloppy. The 3-5-2 caught us off guard. It isn’t really X’s and O’s on defense, there is some gray area and that kind of confused us for some reason.”
Midfielder Andy Williams
“We limited their chances in the first half. We know they would come out strong in the first 10 of 15 minutes, but we didn’t take good care of the ball. They kept us pinned down in the second half. Christian (Gomez) has kind of been the linchpin for this team the last couple of games. Kenny (Cutler) did a good job and didn’t give him very good shots other than the PK. We were out numbered in the midfield. They played hard.”
COLORADO RAPIDS
Head Coach Fernando Clavijo
“It was easy to see (Salt Lake’s) game plan. Their game plan was simple, they wanted to slow us down, counterattack and look to score on a set piece. It worked for them last time. When we play at home we try to be aggressive. I didn’t feel like we were that in the first half. The level of energy was not there is the beginning. We were too casual on the ball. In the second half our touches and our technique was much better. There was an improved energy. Something we mentioned at half was that the wing play was poor. In the second half Colin (Clark) and (Jacob) Peterson created more chances. You didn’t see (Chris) Wingert getting up on the wing. I was pleased with our young guys tonight, but also with the leadership of Pablo (Mastroeni). He played his third game in a row and has become more of a mentor to the young guys.”
Midfielder Pablo Mastroeni
“These games against Salt Lake are always interesting. The team who imposes their will on the other has the better chances. We came out of half time and wanted to find Christian (Gomez) as much as we could. He finds spaces and it is our job to get him the ball. With Christian being man marked, there is more space for me. It was a breath of fresh air, it was liberating. We also came out and had some good combo passing. In this formation (the 3-5-2) you have to keep the ball and I felt like we did that.”
Midfielder Colin Clark
“It’s easy out there when you have good forwards who can score. On this surface the ball can skip and it is easy for strikers to put it on net in their stride, defenders have a harder time redirecting it away from goal. Christian Gomez draws a lot of attention and is good on the ball. If you have forwards with pace in front of him and on the wings he can find them and be dangerous. There is a long way to go, but it is nice to be up there (in first place).”
Striker Omar Cummings
“In the first half I think we were a little stretched so we didn’t have the legs to finish things off. Coach said we had to come out harder. (My goal) was simple. The ball went to Colin (Clark) and I went straight into the box. It was a classic goal: the ball goes wide, is crossed in, and then finished.”
15 May 2008 RSL HQ
While I was happy to see so many chances, we are never going win on the road if we can’t finish.come on espindola, deucher, score!
Last night was the first time I decided to watch REAL. Yes I was disappointed that they didn’t get the win, but it was still exciting to watch my home town team. I have a new love for the game. Thank you for being here in Utah and I look forward to cheering you on in person.
Throughout the year, I have been calling for patience with respect to RSL, realizing that the team needs time for its myriad of new players to adjust to each other and the system. I still think that is the case. However, there are some real problems with RSL that are reoccurring, and that the team doesn’t seem to be making progress on. If they don’t solve these they will never get over the hump, and continue to be a mediocre team at best. If they can solve them they have a chance to be “a contenda”. These are:
1) Lack of a #10. Williams is not a #10 and it showed last night. He is great playing with a #10 but he is not creative enough, nor can he hold the ball well enough with his head up looking for runners. Morales has shown flashes of potential but no consistency. This is refelcted in RSL’s lack of effectiveness in its attacking third, and its inablility to hold onto the ball consistently in the midfield. RSL really needs to consider going out and getting a very high quality (DP?) #10. It’s too bad they didn’t pick up Christian Gomez, the perfect fit at a reasonable price.
2) It’s becoming apparent to me that Deuchar is not “Dr. Goals” but “Dr. No”. He has missed many, many clear scoring chances (he has 2 goals in 6.5 games). RSL needs a finisher. Also Kreis continues the puzzling trend of using him out of position. Deuchar is best suited in the traditional British centerforward, setting up close to the goal and finishing with his head/feet. Kreis continues to have him come back for the ball with his back to the goal, using him to dish off passes to Espindola. Also he has Deuchar making diagonal runs to the sideline to pick up passes which Deuchar then crosses into the center for Espindola to try to head in, just the opposite of what should happen.
Even down a goal, RSL really didn’t make Colorado uncomforable with lots of quality scoring chances. The few that they had (Deuchar’s head ball) were squandered. Until they sort this out, they will not be successful consistently
A couple of observations from last night’s game…
-Andy Williams is no Javier Morales. Andy has played well this year in his appearances (particularly his and Beckerman’s game-winner hookup last week), but we need Javi running the show in the middle if we’re going to get results on the road. The enegy, creativity, and touch were obviously missing last night. I love Andy off the bench, but we need the Argentine for 90.
-That being said, Andy (along with Wingert and Beltran out of the back) played plenty of good balls across the box, both in the air and on the ground, that simply did not get finished and should have. Somebody on the front line has got to step up and start putting balls in the back of the net. I think Kenny, Fabi, and Robbie can be those guys (I was not unhappy to see Yura didn’t make the trip)…but they’ve got to start BEING those guys away from Rice-Eccles.
-Our defense at the beginning of the season, with Wingert, Borchers, Mantilla, and Joy across the back and Sturgis in front of them, seemed much more solid than where it is now. For the balls that made it across the box in the first 15 minutes of last night’s second half, we probably should have been down 3-0 or 4-0 before Cummings every got free. Injuries happen, and we have a deep roster to help absorb those…but guys need to get healthy and get back to what worked.
-Garth, if you happen to read this, Chris Seitz has got to be worth something in this league, and that something would be better spent on the trade market than on our bench. Nick is a great goalkeeper, experienced, skilled, possessing the confidence that this team needs, and Jason obviously recognizes that. Parlay Seitz into something - anything - besides keeping our bench from blowing away.
OK, I’ll put my soapbox away now. We played lousy and got beat on the road last night. We have an extended break to get healthy, and it’s time to turn things around next Saturday at Dallas.
Right on the mark Timeteo and Ryan! RSL needs another forward, hopefully someone that can turn the game on its head. We havent had anyone like that since Jeff Cunningham. Also without Morales our offense runs differently and out midfield can get outplayed. Having a quality #10 (hopefully a DP) would solve that problem and we would not miss a beat when Morales gets injured. He is a bit injury prone. Winning at home is one thing but winning on the road is another. Because we lack that playmaker or forward with a killer instinct and nose for the goal we will have problems on the road. In terms of Seitz, he was named to the US Mens National team pool as one of 5 goalies. Nick Rimando was not on the list. Tells you that everyone in US Soccer and MLS think that Seitz is the real thing. When are we going to have the RSL coaching staff say the same thing? I think we are missing something that other people know about in terms of Seitz’s ability. Hopefully we will get to see him play steadily for RSL before he gets shipped off to Europe.
Cap space and roster spot should be converted to DP quality attacking mid (#10). Come on Garth, put your money where your mouth is.
I agree that we need Morales to start. Williams is a brilliant 70th minute sub, but he can not play more than 35-45 minutes of effective, creative soccer.
The thing that kills me the most about the loss last night is the complete lack of effort in the second half. I think Espindola was the only RSL player who actually sprinted in the second half, every one else was walking (with an occasional burst of slow jog.) Kreis promised to put a team of competitors on the field who would never stop scrapping for a win. After 45 minutes, there was only one team with any fight and they weren’t wearing white. We weren’t close enough to our marks in the midfield to even challenge for the ball. We weren’t even close enough to foul.
Kreis has talked about playing the same way on the road as we do at home, but so far it has not happened at all. Instead of moving into their half and applying pressure to the ball, we sit back and give them all the space they need to build attack after attack. That was the most frustrating game I’ve seen since 2006. Let’s hope Sturgis and Morales get healthy soon so we can put some wins together.
It seems that the recurring theme in this thread is absence of a quality #10 that can add experience and the ability to put the ball where needed. It’s apparent that RSL possesses a talented and versatile stable of forwards in Deuchar, Espindola, Findley, and even Yura. However, beside sporadic skill shown by Morales and Kovalenko, RSL lacks crispness on passes. It is almost painful to watch some of the balls in from corner kicks. So many opportunities wasted! What does everyone think about the possibility of landing someone like Luis Figo in the DP slot? He’s coming off an injury and it doesn’t look like Inter Milan has any intention of re-signing him. He’s expressed interest in coming to MLS and has even spoken with RSL in the past. Perhaps someone with his ball skill would put Real over the top. Any takers?
I would not agree with you that we have a talented stable of forwards. Deucher seems to be nice guy and a hard worker, but i have seen a distinct lack of finishing talent on his behalf. He has missed MANY finishing chances (including 2 more last night). I am having doubts if he is what he is cracked up to be. Expindola, Findley and Yura have been less than impressive, to say the least.
I could think of many players who would be a much better choice as a #10 than Figo that RSL could get for a lot less money than what Figo would demand.
Like who Timoteo?
As much as everyone has disliked my opinions I am waiting for everyone to finally give in and agree. Admit it “Rob Stinks” is accurate with previous statements about players. I did say previously that Morales was invisible except on free kicks, but I stand corrected b/c he played fairly well against Dallas. That was only one game. Dr. Goal stinks. Beckerman is still just running around a lot. I think the DP thing is a poor decision financially. The league already has problems making money from what I know. Does anyone know where the average Joe can find financial statements for each team and the league? I am interested to know. I would like a great player, but paying money you don’t have for that player doesn’t make sense. Have the teams that do have DP’s done better with attendance and ticket sales? I haven’t recognized it if they have, but I just casually look at other teams attendance and stuff.
RSL still needs someone to score and we need someone to come in and control the game when Morales is out. I will admit this as well, I certainly noticed the difference in the game with Morales out. Perhaps he was doing more than I previously gave him credit for, he just seems invisible.
Also, do we still have anyone on the “I love Cutler” kick this week? He is not very good. I would have kept Talley over Cutler, but I really like Carey Talley so I am bias. Although, I do recognize that his play was poor for RSL this season. Cutler is okay for the end of a game with a lead, but otherwise leave him on the bench.
Rolfe Montenegro
Andres D’Alessandro
for starters.
i had 20 people over to my house to watch the big game and was embarrassed with our lack of passion. i don’t mind losing when we play our hearts out, but it was like we were playing in a friendly and didn’t care about the outcome.
I just watched the highlights as I was out of town for this game. The one thing I noticed in the highlights (and in all of our other games) is our complete lack of defensive pressure at the left/right back position. We leave our wings wide open and it’s driving me nuts. I wish we would cover our back positions better than we are. And I completely agree with our lack of finishing. I haven’t seen it in Dr. Goal yet. He’s really slow and has a hard time out running the defenders. Findley has all but disappeared on a strike. Beckerman is playing differently than he used to. He used to play more aggresive and a little more angry. We need that Beckerman back. A lot of clumsy mistakes by him. Too bad we lost.
My view from the first row at the big Dick. The first half was marginally watchable. We had a few decent chances, but screwed them up. I dont know what Kreis said to the team at half time, but it must have been bad as the team sputtered out of the locker room barely in time to make the whistle. From that time on it appeared none of them wanted to play. We consistently gave away the ball, over kicked it and it looked like a game my kids would have played. Every single player on the pitch (except Rimando of course) looked like crap. One mistake after another. I dont know why Kreis waited so long to sub, but in the end, even that didnt help as the subs disappeared into the suckiness as well. Very disappointing.
Hopefully our OTHER team will show up this Saturday!
Re: Rob Stinks
Yes everyone jumped off the Kenny Cutler bangwagon when we realized that Kreis would be starting him. I think most people agree that he is better and would be a good 2nd half sub but not someone we want playing the full 90 ocnsistently. Deuchar hasnt been doing much but I think we are still adjusting to his style of play or he to ours. Scotland is like England in terms of attacking. Play the ball to the wings and have some tall guy head it in. We have never had an aerial attack threat until we got him. Also, with the number of corners and set pieces that we have been getting not having Deuchar out there would not make sense.
As for a DP, just look at Columbus and Chicago. Schelotto and Blanco have definitely been impact players in terms of attendance and W’s. (I am not including Beckham in this) probably because they are attacking players. Guys like Richetti and Davino in Dallas havent had an impact in attendance or wins probably because they are defensive players. Angel in NY definitely raised the attack of the Red Bulls last year but their attendance didnt skyrocket.
Having a new stadium means getting more sources of income for RSL including all of the ticket sales money (Uof U charges a “facility fee” that they keep), parking revenue, advertising, and more importantly all of the concessions, food, and eventually beer sales (yes they will serve beer at the Stadium). They also wont have to fork out $30K a game for “rent” to Rice Eccles. This means that a DP could be possible and would probably make sense financially, depending on who we can get and for how much. Why wouldnt RSL do it? They nearly brought in Jay Jay Okocha (from Nigeria) last year but he backed out (probably looked at the AstroTurf and said no way). Besides what are we going to do with the extra roster spot because we dealt Talley? I think the timing of the Talley trade before the June transfer window means that we are probably talking to someone out there who could be our DP.