Building the Team

Building the squad has been a long process. There were drafts and allocations and trades that led to piecing together the skeleton of the team as well as filling in the gaps with solid personnel.

Our first signing, Jason Kries, is a league legend. He holds the record for career goals scored, current tally before opening day is 92. He's played for Dallas since the league opened in 1996. For RSL he will be a great leader. As he approaches 100 career goals, I don't think Kries is done as far as his playing talents just yet. He will be a great on-field asset. But I also don't think he'll be the prolific goal scorer of his earlier years. This is fine by me. Jason will have many important roles in Salt Lake besides putting the ball into the back of the net. That role will likely fall on Clint Mathis. Fresh off his return from Hannover 96 in the German Bundesliga, Mathis came to RSL because he wanted to play for Ellinger. That motivation should bring out greatness on the field for Salt Lake.

Next came the drafts. I believe there was the Expansion, Super, and Supplemental. The Expansion draft brought many of the players that MLS fans are familiar with, such as Andy Williams, and Delvin (D.J.) Countess among others. Dipsy Selolwane is someone I've seen do some great things while playing for the Fire. The Super draft brought us some cream-o-the-crop youngins. Coach Ellinger went with Nik Besagno for the first overall pick. At the time I didn't know what to think of our first ever pick being a 16 year-old. Now that I've had a few months to digest the idea I realized nobody will accurately know what to think until Besagno works his way into the first team. The kid hasn't even practiced with the team yet. But he is doing great things with the U-17 national team. He's definitely an investment for the future. Don't expect him seeing a great deal of first team action this season. With the newly formed reserve team system this type of addition is new to MLS. I welcome the change, have a reserve squad on each team will only improve the transition that rookies make to professional soccer.

The other three Super Draftees, Jamie Watson, Luke Kreamalmeyer, and Jay Nolley I am very excited about. I first saw a tape of Watson playing for the youth National Team. I was watching the match to get my first look at some kid named Freddy and was also impressed by Watson. At least, he was the only other name I remembered, and I think he even scored in the game. Nolley is fresh off winning an NCAA title with the Hoosiers. Even tough I was pulling for UCSB in the final Nolley stole the show with his performance in the game deciding shootout. He'll be a solid backup for Countess between the pipes. Kreamalmeyer's cool because he and I are from the same state AND he played his college ball at Bradley near my hometown of Morton, IL. In fact, while their soccer facility was under construction the Braves played their home games at a park in Morton. Though I'm not sure whether Luke was at Bradley at the time.

Another player to watch out for is Sergio Flores. Flores is a Utah native, hailing from Smithfield (a small town north of Logan in Cache Valley). He's been playing reserve team ball down in Argentina, and he has been in camp with some of the youth national teams.

And then there was the surprise signing of the year. Eddie Pope was acquired from the Metro Stars. Possibly the best defender the league has ever seen, Pope is a stalwart with dangerous attacking abilities.

The lead roles in the front, middle, and back are established proven professionals, stars if you will. The supporting cast is shaping up to be dynamite. With a great coaching staff RSL will have an impressive opening season.