Opening Day Jitters

Saturday was a special day in Sandy. With the recognition of the 2009 MLS Cup Champions, a full house, and a new season to open at Rio Tinto Stadium, there was an electric feel to the evening. The buzz was enough to affect not only the play on the field, but also the team operations off the field. My thoughts on opening day need to be prefaced by the fact that I spent the first 20 minutes of the match standing in the ticket line on the west side of Rio Tinto Stadium. Due to some travel plans I wasn't sure if I would be attending the match and did not purchase a ticket in advance of the contest. Instead, I had the privilege of mingling with the masses who were trying to pick up tickets either previously purchased or grab a few of the remaining for sale. From the murmurs of the crowd, I gathered that RSL did not mail out season tickets, but rather informed holders to simply arrive early to pick up their tickets. This led to excessive congestion that ensued, causing many to miss much of the first half. If what I heard was true, the team should really rethink this process.

About the match, it's a very similar story for RSL. The team played well as a whole for most of the match. Seattle is a solid team, who will most likely be involved in the postseason. With only a pair of scoring chances through the entire match, the Sounders capitalized on both of them. The Salt Lake defense was solid. But, to be elite, as head coach Jason Kreis requests, they can't allow such chances. Teams will pounce, much like Seattle did.

RSL controlled the tempo with dominating midfield possession. Even while switching out the pieces due to injury there didn't seem to be much of a let down. Nelson Gonzalez was a lot of fun to watch on the left flank. He's crafty on the ball through traffic, speedy on the attack, and a great crosser of the ball - as seen on the late service to Alvaro Saborio that led to the equalizing goal in extra time. Gonzalez appears to be another fantastic addition to the league's most solid midfield.

What a difference a goal makes. Before Saborio's header in the 94th minute I was ready to rant about poor finishing and wasted chances. But all of that frustration is gone with a great snap header. Add Will Johnson's fantastic diving header just after halftime and you have some feel good moments to counter balance the weight of two fatal defensive lapses.

2009 Road Form Returns for RSL

As a defender for much of my playing days, I really enjoy watching Jamison Olave - most of the time. A few seasons back I heard on opposing coach mention of Olave, that he was a solid defender but that he was good for at least one major mistake per game. Ever since I heard that I've noticed Olave's weak moments, and have discovered that the coach's statement was extremely accurate on most occasions.

On Thursday Olave was good for two mistakes. To hasty challenges resulted in two penalties pounded in by Brad Davis.

The title of this entry is a bit misleading, as the Champions were able to score. The build up was pristine, with the finish matching the entire play in quality. With only two games done, RSL have now nearly reached their halfway point on road goals scored from 2009. So, on that level, the overall match wasn't bad.

Does anyone really know what got into Fabian Espindola's head toward the end of the match when tried to take an unsolicited piggyback ride on Houston's Bobby Boswell? All I can say is that Espi got away with flipping out on the pitch and not getting sent off.

My final point I wanted to bring up was regarding Robbie Findley. Even though he hasn't found his scoring touch this season, his first touch continues to make me smile. Watch when Findley receives a pass. Last year the ball would bounce a little away from him, and in tight spots he would lose it. This year the ball is staying tight to his body, keeping the striker in complete possession of the ball - even in tight spaces.

Nearly Perfect Start for RSL

Real Salt Lake did something on Saturday that has never happened in the five previous seasons of the franchises history - they won their season opening match. Riding on a pair of ridiculous strikes from playmaker Javier Morales, RSL cruised to a convincing 3-0 victory on the road at San Jose.

Talk about playing with something to prove, RSL scored a third as many goals at Buck Shaw Stadium on Saturday as they scored the entire 2009 season on the road. All three goals came from the Argentine of Morales and Fabian Espindola. It's so good to see those two combining again.

The movement of the ball by Salt Lake was as impressive as last year. Lots of short passing in tight spaces, and lots of quick one-touches to get out of sticky situations. Speaking of touch, there was one player who appears to have really worked on his initial contact with the ball, and that's striker Robbie Findley. It is apparent that his experience with the US National Team over the off season has helped Findley corral and then protect the ball. He wasn't perfect at it, but he was much improved since last season.

Even though the team can gain a lot of confidence with this historic season opening win, it's hard to really gauge Salt Lake's true quality as San Jose appears to be a team in utter disarray. RSL dominated the midfield play, but there were times - especially late in the game - where the Earthquakes were dangerous on the attack and the Salt Lake defense suffered a lapse in concentration. Having Rimando's deflection save hit the post, on a point plank strike from Arturo Alvarez, was a stroke of fantastic luck. I would think that any team better than San Jose would have scored with the chances created late in the match, but the bounces seemed to go Salt Lake's way. A much stiffer test will come this Thursday when the Champions travel to Houston to take on the ever consistent, Tang-clad, Dynamo.

Those are my thoughts. What did you think of Salt Lake's performance on Saturday night in San Jose?

2010 Outlook for Real Salt Lake

With the signing of the collective bargaining agreement, and then after watching the Philadelphia Union and Seattle Sounders kick off the season on Wednesday night, I officially have Real Salt Lake on the brain. Most of the preseason conversation has revolved around whether the 2009 cup title was a one and down deal, and how the team will react to the departure of Yura Movsisyan.

Here are some of things that I've been thinking about for the upcoming RSL season.

1. Consistency

With the exception of the 2009 playoffs, and possibly the extreme latter part of the 2008 regular season, consistency has never been a word that describes Real Salt Lake. As head coach Jason Kreis has mentioned in the news recently, last year RSL was a slightly below .500 team. The necessary player talent is on the roster, and I believe that we're seeing Kreis developing into one of the great young coaches in this country. Everything seems to be in place for RSL to compete and win. Now the players need to prove that the MLS Cup winners badge on their shirts isn't a fluke.

2. Can wins be found on the road

Going 2-11-2 on the road is dismal, and can not be expected to get the team back into the playoffs. A positive thought is that the 2009 playoffs largely took place outside of Rio Tinto Stadium. RSL was forced to come up with results on the road in Columbus and Chicago. Those results should help with confidence. Combine that with the fact that the 2010 champaign opens on the road with the West's weakest team, there is no better opposition with which to gain confidence for the rest of the summer.


3. Will CCL or US Open Cup be taken seriously

This question has been lingering in my brain since coming down from the whole cup victory. Historically, not many MLS teams take the Open Cup seriously until that later rounds. As far as the CONCACAF Champions League, that's a mixed bag. I don't think it will come down to whether RSL will take the competition seriously, I think it will all depend on how the MLS season is going when the Champions League begins in August. With MLS rosters as they are at this point in time, the teams realistically don't have the depth to simultaneously be competitive in league and Champions League play. If RSL is sitting in a comfortable spot toward the top of the MLS table in August, than I would expect to be able to afford to rest their starters for MLS matches and make some noise in the Champions League.

RSL's Championship Cup Tour

Real Salt Lake will be partnering with several area businesses to bring the MLS Cup trophy to communities across the state of Utah.

Through out the month of February Utah's first major league sports title winners will tour with its prize to 35 different locations.

“Since we brought the MLS Cup back from Seattle in November, we have wanted to ensure that our fans from all across the State of Utah feel pride and ownership in what the club has achieved,” said Real Salt Lake President Bill Manning. “Fostering and nurturing the support of all Utahns is of the utmost important to us, and we hope this tour can provide a small measure of thanks to our followers from Logan, to St. George, to all points in between.”

The following itinerary appears quite extensive. Pretty much, if you live anywhere in Utah you can have an opportunity to get your picture with the cup. Be sure to head out and show the team your support.

WEEK ONE:
Sunday, Jan. 31:             Appearance on KUTV 2’s Talkin’ Sports (10:35 p.m. MT)
Monday, Feb. 1:              Kickoff in Salt Lake City @ KUTV 2News Studios; then to
                                          Manila (Daggett County) and Vernal (Uintah County)
Tuesday, Feb. 2:             Duchesne (Duchesne County) and Price (Carbon County)
Wednesday, Feb. 3:        Castle Dale (Emery County) and Moab (Grand County)
Thursday, Feb. 4:            Monticello (San Juan County) and Kanab (Kane County)
Fri./Sat., Feb. 5-6:            St. George (Washington County)
Sunday, Feb. 7:               Off day
 
WEEK TWO:
Monday, Feb. 8:              Cedar City and Parowan (Iron County)
Tuesday, Feb. 9:             Panguitch (Garfield County) and Junction (Piute County)
Wednesday, Feb. 10:      Loa (Wayne County) and Richfield (Sevier County)
Thursday, Feb. 11:          Beaver (Beaver County) and Fillmore (Millard County)
Friday, Feb. 12:               Nephi (Juab County) and Manti and Ephraim (Sanpete County)
Feb. 13-15:                       Off days
 
WEEK THREE:
Tuesday, Feb. 16:           Provo and Orem (Utah County)
Wednesday, Feb. 17:      Park City (Summit) and Heber City (Wasatch Counties)
Thursday, Feb. 18:          Tooele (Tooele County)
Friday, Feb. 19:               Bountiful (Davis County)
February 20-21:               Off days
 
WEEK FOUR:
Monday, Feb. 22:            Layton and Hill Air Force Base (Davis County)
Tuesday, Feb. 23:           Ogden (Weber County)
Wednesday, Feb. 24:      Ogden and Morgan (Morgan County)
Thursday, Feb. 25:          Brigham City and Tremonton (Box Elder County)
Friday, Feb. 26:               Logan (Cache County)
Saturday, Feb. 27:           Randolph (Rich County)
Sunday, Feb. 28:             Salt Lake City – KUTV 2 Studios – Talkin’ Sports (Salt Lake County)

For more details on the tour you can visit www.RealSaltLake.com.

Wingert Racing for Charity

Fresh off of helping Real Salt Lake capture the 2009 MLS Cup title, defender Chris Wingert is now taking on professional athletes from other sports in a race of giving.

Out of 60 athletes from various professional sports such as skateboard-icon Tony Hawk and the Pheonix Suns' Steven Nash, Wingert currently sits in fourth place on the money raising leader-board. The idea of the competition is to see who can raise the most money for his/her charity of choice by January 15, 2010.

Wingert's cause, Rural Ghana Children's Aid, seeks to provide, "sustainable education for children in rural Ghana through community collaboration. Community matches each dollar raised thrugh self-sustaining model. Academic instruction, cultural identity, sports."

The leader so far is Major League Soccer's own Diego Gutierrez with, 'Nothing But Nets' malaria prevention. Hawk, who currently sits in second place, is raising money to build a skatepark in Watts. While the third best money raiser - at press time - was Nash who is fighting for Educare Arizona - a world-class preschool for at-risk children ages birth to five years, with teacher training, public policy and health platforms to ameliorate lives of families in poverty.

Donations will be accepted until January 15. "The athletes who raise the most money on behalf of his/her project in that time, and those who receive the greatest number of donations will win additional bounty awards of $10,000, $5,000, and $2,500, respectively (total of $30,000 in bounty awards)," said the Athletes For Hope site.

For a current view of the Athletes For Hope leader-board, go here.

The Most Important of the Six Goals

I know that Real Salt Lake would rather all of us not think about their Open Cup debacle from last night, obviously there wasn't much thought put into the match on their part. So, I'm going to focus my remarks on the joy and joyness that was last Saturday. I mean, can you really talk too much about a 6-0 victory? I didn't think so.

When there are six goals scored in a single match there is a lot to talk about, and a lot to think back on as far as offense is concerned. It will be hard to forget the absolutely wicked volley from Clint Mathis, struck out of the air from a Javiar Morales corner. And, and precise placement of Andy Williams' freekick late in the match was also worthy to be considered one of the best of the week. Let's not forget Jamison Olave's pile driving header to start the scoring, and ultimately win the game.

Although each of those goals were great and memorable, speaking outside the scope of the match itself and looking at the bigger picture, the other three were probably more important for RSL as a team. From this perspective the most important goal was scored by Yura Movsisyan. Last season's playoff hero has lead the team in shots in nearly every game this season and had yet to find the twine until 70 minutes into game Saturday when he got onto the end of a nifty pass from Mathis, and finished into the far sidenetting.

Goal scorers need score goals in order to stay confident and hungry. Hopefully for RSL, Movsisyan finding the net on Saturday will lead to many more through out the season.

It was good for Robbie Findley to get one on Saturday, but not vital. The team's leading scorer has already scored a hat trick this season, and has been brooding with confidence. Contributing to a rout can only do positive things for the guy.

And, finally, there is Luis Miguel Escalada. The much anticipated signing from Argentina opening his account for RSL. Escalada made a nice run for Ned Grabavoy to set him up, and then buried his finish. An encouraging sight for RSL supporters. Now the hope is that Escalada can produce such results regularly and pressure Findley and Movsisyan for playing time.

RSL Schedule Wallpaper

When I'm not blogging about the world's game I spend most of my days as a mild mannered software developer. While playing around with some code a few weeks back I wrote a little application that creates a desktop wallpaper for your computer.

Essentially, I use the nighttime image of Rio Tinto Stadium, that is available for purchase in the Desert Crown store, as a background. Then I pull the RSL schedule straight off of their site and write it to the image. The result is a wallpaper that updates when ever the RSL site updates. For a geek, such as myself, it was fun to make. And, what fun is making something without sharing it?

Grab your own updating Real Salt Lake season schedule wallpaper here and let me know what you think.

Goals Runneth Over for RSL in Home Opener

The first hat trick in team history, during MLS play, provided by Robbie Findley and a sublime header from Kyle Beckerman lifted Real Salt Lake to its first home opening win since 2005. In their wake, RSL left the reigning MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew disheveled, reeling from their worst loss since May of 2007.

From the opening whistle the frontmen for RSL, Findley and Yura Movsisyan, relentlessly badgered the Crew defense. Their pressure forced a lot of rushed passes that were either poor decisions or off the mark. A prime example of this was Findley's second goal when a clearance from Columbus goalkeeper Will Hesmer went straight to Findley, who easily dribbled around Hesmer and tapped the ball into an empty net.

People can say that the first two of Findley's goals were scrappy, and that's because they were. He was incredibly opportunistic and buried the easy chances. Will Johnson rifled a superb freekick that led to Findley's goal in the second minute of play. The power and the accuracy of Johnson's shot is what led to Hesmers poor deflection and ultimately Findley scoring the goal.

Findley's header, that ironically completed the hat trick, was pure quality. Rising high above his defender he pounded the ball back across the goal, and behind Hesmer's momentum. Beckerman crashing the near post on a corner, for the fourth RSL goal, was also textbook. If my youth coaches would have been watching I'm sure they would have paused the tape and pointed out Beckerman's movement to the near bar and Nat Borchers shifting to the far bar. Great set piece execution from Salt Lake.

A surprising aspect of RSL's play in their first two games this season is the role of Clint Mathis. I'll admit, last year I was leery of Cletus' return to the Claret-and-Cobalt. With the expectations of his past in mind I was quick to point out his faults when he would fail to score goals. But scoring goals is not what Mathis is about this time around. I've realized in the last week that Mathis is, in a sense, the glue. Javiar Morales is the playmaker and lead creator on this team, there is no arguing that. But, Mathis is the steady presense that keeps things moving. He'll provide devastating passes, as we saw in Seattle when he led Movsisyan on a breakaway in the second half. He'll track back and chase the ball down when ever Salt Lake doesn't have it.

At the Rio Tinto Stadium Open House someone next to me asked if I was a Clint Mathis fan or hater. I weaseled out of an answer by stating some plus and some minuses about the player. But, after seeing his performance so far this season, I would have to say I'm sliding more toward a Mathis supporter.

After getting torched for his performance in Seattle, I find it only fair to point out that Tony Beltran did a lot to restore my trust on Thursday night. He looked much more comfortable, and had a much better time tracking the Crew attackers. This might be an indicator of the quality the Sounders possess, but either way Beltran was much improved in his second match this season.

And finally, there has to be something said about Yura. The man is giving every ounce of effort in trying to score goals, and it hasn't happened yet. In Seattle he missed a blatant sitter, and at home against Columbus he just couldn't get that final touch to go in. His work rate, like everyone of the players under head coach Jason Kreis, is topnotch. He's getting himself in dangerous situations, and I think the goals will come. Although, if he continues to be in those spots and fails to score soon his confidence could suffer. There are only so many times a player can miss before he starts to wonder if he can ever make it. But, I don't think that Movsisyan has reached that point yet.

RSL drop opener...again

It wasn't the start that Real Salt Lake wanted, but many may have expected. Heading up against one of the league's hottest teams in the Seattle Sounders FC, and clearly lacking the clinical finishing that RSL head coach Jason Kreis mentioned earlier in the week, Utah's MLS side dropped its season opener to the expansion Sounders 2-0.

The result is something that RSL fans have come to expect, as the team has yet to win on opening day in it's five year history. Some may even be worried by the things they saw on Saturday, but in truth, I'm not terribly worried.

It's no secret that Tony Beltran was a pipe that Steve Zakuani smoked repeatedly, and most especially en route to serving up Seattle's first goal. The lack of goals scored from Salt Lake could be a concern, although we're only looking at one game. The concern will come if the scoreless trend continues, which I don't think it will. Other than that, RSL looked fairly good.

Nearly the entire second half, with the exception of Fredy Montero's break away goal, was spent in and around the Seattle penalty area. The Salt Lake midfield, although not as sharp as we've seen in the past, kept most of the possession. This was in large part due to the efforts of Clint Mathis. He certainly isn't the brash goal-scorer of the past. But, he is a smart player that added a sense of calm for a midfield group that was just a little off on the night.

The few minutes that Raphael Cox played were very encouraged. After replacing Beltran, who slid over to left back in the second half, Cox looked very mobile and served up one of the better crosses of the match. He certainly made a case to see more playing time.

Up next is the home opener against the Columbus Crew on Thursday. RSL needs not only your butt in a seat at Rio Tinto Stadium on Thursday but also your voice to be heard. The match will be televised on ESPN2, and kickoff is set for 7pm local time.

Watch Parties for RSL-SSFC

Tonight RSL will be taking to the turf of Qwest Field in Seattle to face the extraordinarily popular Seattle Sounders FC. The boys in the radio informed me earlier today that all 27,000 tickets available for the match have been sold. For those of us without a ticket, or transportation to the Emerald City for that matter, we can enjoy the festivities as they will be shown live on KUTV channel 2. Kickoff is set for 8:30pm, with a pregame show airing at 8pm.

Because it's always more fun to watch soccer with a group I wanted to share where you could find the nearest watch party. Go join your fellow RSL supporters at any one of these locations. I promise that it will always be more fun than watching by yourself at home.

These are only the watch parties that I know of. If you know of any other groups getting together to watch RSL this evening please list it in the comments of this post.

Logan - Iggy's Sports Grill. 2271 North Main. No official party has been organized here, but there will be RSL fans, myself included, gathering to watch the game. If you're in Cache Valley come join us!

Clearfield - Stadium Pizza. 540 East 1700 South. This is being advertised by the restaurant and endorced by the team. In other words, you should have no problems making sure the game will be shown. http://rsltothecore.com/rslblog/?p=1688

Salt Lake City - Lumpy's. 3000 Highland Drive. It was mentioned in the comments of the link above. Much like the gathering in Logan, this looks to be very informal. Although, I'm told it's a great place to watch a match.

West Jordan - Salsa Leedos. 9155 Redwood Rd. The Loyalists, one of the RSL supporters gropus, will be gathering here. They advertise the event as family-friendly.

Those are the locations and gatherings that I know of. Please fill us in if you know of any other groups getting together, or locations that will be showing the game.

Heads Up on the Austin Aztex FC

For their final tuneup before heading into the regular season Real Salt Lake are facing USL-1's newest team, the Austin Aztex.

As most of the readers of this blog most likely have a pretty good feeling of what to expect from Salt Lake on Saturday, this article will shed a bit of light on the opponent.

The Aztex join the USL system as an affiliate of Stoke City of the Premier League. Although a second division side, the Aztex have played three other MLS teams in preparations for the USL season that starts in a a couple weeks. After loosing to the Red Bulls 2-0, and getting tied up with the Houston Dynamo 2-2, the Aztex are coming to Rio Tinto Stadium following a 1-0 win over MLS Cup Champion Columbus Crew last week.

One member of the Aztex roster may look familiar to the RSL faithful. Kyle Brown, who spent the 2007 season on the RSL roster, is one of Austin's strikers.

Austin appears to be a formidable opponent for the Rio Tinto Stadium open house on Saturday. Among the other festivities the match kicks off at 1pm.

See you all there!

Three Utah Teams in U.S. Open Cup Action

Utah has three clubs competing in this year's Lamar Hunt US Open Cup qualifying round. Real Salt Lake will face the newly expanded Seattle Sounders FC, while the Ogden Outlaws and BYU Cougars of the Premier Development League will each play four matches as part of the PDL Western Conference. These are regularly scheduled league matches for the PDL sides, so the results will count in the PDL standings as well as for Open Cup qualifying.

BYU's road to the Open Cup looks like this:

May 9 BYU Cougars @ Lancaster Rattlers 9:00 PM
May 16 BYU Cougars @ Los Angeles Legends 10:00 PM
May 21 Ventura County Fusion @ BYU Cougars 9:30 PM
May 23 San Fernando Valley Quakes @ BYU Cougars 9:30 PM

Ogden's like so:

May 16 Ogden Outlaws @ Southern California Seahorses 10:00 PM
May 17 Ogden Outlaws @ Orange County Blue Star 8:00 PM
May 23 Ventura County Fusion @ Ogden Outlaws 8:00 PM
May 22 San Fernando Valley Quakes @ Ogden Outlaws 8:00 PM

Simply qualifying for Open Cup play is an accomplishment for PDL teams. As the top two teams in the Western Conference in 2006, both Ogden and BYU made their US Open Cup debut. The Outlaws headed west to face the Sonoma County Sol, and amateur team in the US Adult Soccer Association. After battling to a 1-1 draw in regulation, the Outlaws were beaten 6-5 on penalties. The Cougars didn't faire quite so well against the Arizona Sauharos, also from the USASA. The Arizona club took full advantage of their home field ands shellacked BYU 5-1.

BYU qualified for the tournament in 2007, hosting the California Victory of USL-1 at South Field in Provo. The Cougars fought hard, but lost the match 2-1.

Real Salt Lake has done slightly better in Open Cup play than it's PDL brothers. In the last four years RSL has qualified twice, and advanced to the next round only once. All MLS teams who qualify for the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup enter in the third round. This usually pits an MLS team against a team from one of the USL divisions. In 2005 the Claret-and-Cobalt took the Minnesota Thunder (USL-1) into overtime before getting beaten 6-4. Despite the loss, Jason Kreis scored a hat-trick in the game. This was also the match where RSL found Melvin Tarley whose brace (2 goals) for the Thunder was so impressive that he was invited to join RSL for the remainder of the 2005 season.

The following year was the most fruitful for Salt Lake in Open Cup action. It was the only year where they advanced beyond the third round. A 2-1 victory over the Virginia Beach Mariners (USL-1) at Rice-Eccles Stadium was enough for RSL to move on and host a fourth round match against the Colorado Rapids. But, that's as far as Salt Lake would climb in the bracket as they lost to their bitter rivals 1-0.

For the next two years RSL couldn't progress past qualifying. Both years looked promising, each opening with a win at home. But, when they went on the road for the second match, Salt Lake couldn't get it together.

In 2007, Andy Williams scored 19 minutes into extra time to help RSL down the Kansas City Wizards 2-1. Salt Lake went to loose to the Rapids by the same score in the following play-in game. Then, in 2008, RSL opened qualification with a 4-0 rout of the San Jose Earthquakes in the middle of a snow storm at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The win moved RSL on to Columbus where they lost to the Crew 2-0.

RSL's match with the Sounders FC will be played at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, WA, Tuesday, April 28. Kickoff is set for 7pm local time (8pm MT). The winner will go on to play the winner of the LA Galaxy/Colorado Rapids match on April 4.

Free RSL Exhibition at Rio Tinto

Mark your calendars! Real Salt Lake is offering a free sample of this year's squad on Saturday, March 21. The Claret-and-Cobalt will be taking to the pitch at Rio Tinto Stadium in their last preseason match before their Major League Soccer schedule kicks off the following week in Seattle.

Who RSL will be hosting on the 21st is not yet known. What is known is that the match will be open to the public, free of charge. Admittance will be at a first come first serve basis. Kickoff is set for 1pm, with the gates opening two hours prior.

Rumor has it, the opponent will be from USL-1. Or, in other words, it will be a team that doesn't normally play in Utah. It should make for a great afternoon of FREE professional soccer!

Questions about Escalada

Out of all the incoming additions to the Real Salt Lake roster Argentine striker Luis Escalada seems to be generating the most attention. And, rightfully so. As mentioned in our last post RSL has seen an exodus of forwards fleeing the mountains with little sign of replenishment from the team. That is until head coach Jason Kreis was seen in South America scouting Escalada.

Thanks to the always diligent coverage from the folks over at keepinitrealsoccer.com we've learned in the last week that Kreis was able to secure the talents of the 22-year-old striker.

From all accounts he sounds like a provent scoring threat. During 2006-2007, while playing in Ecuador, Escalada's stats show that he was a goal scoring machine. What concerns me a little is that when he was loaned out to teams in the Brazilian and Argentine leagues his goal scoring output dropped off dramatically. During his two years in Ecuador Escalada scored 45 goals, but while he hopped between clubs in 2008 he only mustered a pair for all of 2008.

So what happened? Were the Argentine and Brazilian leagues to much for him? Did he get hurt? He didn't exactly get a lot of opportunities at the varies clubs he spent time with last year. Maybe he didn't have enough time to settle in with the team. Was there something outside of soccer that was affecting his play? These are honest questions, as I don't read spanish very well.

While contemplating these questions enjoy this highlight reel of Escalada during his year at Club Sport Emelec. If my math is right, he is only 20 in these videos, and he's only 22 now. So, his youthfullness can be a very good thing.

What say you?

Where have all the strikers gone?

While taking a peek at my facebook account - hey, at least I admit it - the other night the chat window popped up with a friend asking if I was worried about this season's Real Salt Lake squad. During the conversation I was pretty pessimistic.

The more RSL fans that I talk to the more I discover that I'm not the only one who enjoyed watching Kenny Deuchar suck defenders toward him while he brought down lofted balls with ease. Deuchar usually had the attention of defenders so that others could sneak through to score. But, the glaring lack of his game while in Salt Lake was his goal production. So, I can understand why he would be let go.

Thinking of the loss of Deuchar made me wonder exactly how the latest exodus of players from RSL would really affect the upcoming season. To help in my thinking I pulled together some extremely basic stats.

In the table below you will find a list of all the players used during RSL's playoff run in 2008. With each player is listed their number of playoff appearances and starts during that time. And, since we're essentially only looking at offensive players for this conversation I only listed the most obvious offensive statistics - goals and assists. The colors indicate who has left RSL (Red) and who has trained with foreign clubs this off-season (Yellow), thus implying that they could leave.

Playoff Stats from Last Year:

Something I noticed right away was the relationship between players who appeared in all three playoff games and those who did not. Out of all the players interacting with other clubs Findley is the only one who appeared in all three playoff games. None of the players who have left appeared in all the playoff matches for RSL in 2008. And with the exception of Kovalenko, none of the outgoing forwards produced any statistical output as far as goals are concerned.

This illustration has helped quell many of my initial lineup concerns for the coming season. The remaining doubts I have will be brought up in future posts leading up to the start of the 2009 season. The take away message is that to panic about the roster as it looks now is like panicking about a remodel job before it's complete.

So, that's my take. What do you think?

Best move of RSL off-season: Kreis extends contract

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. And, in the case of last season's team, try not to change very much.

Real Salt Lake took a giant step in assuring they will build upon the successes of 2008 by making their best move of this off-season on Wednesday. On SuperDraft Eve, RSL announced the extension of Jason Kreis' for another three seasons.

“It is imperative that the competitive side of our organization maintain continuity and build off of last season’s success,” said RSL President Bill Manning in a press release issued late Wednesday.

The move is not a surprising one, looking at last season's epic run that saw Salt Lake excel through the playoffs for the first time in history, flying all the way to the Western Conference Final. Kreis made the product on the field respectable, and fun to watch.

Whether you like Kreis' methods or not, you can not deny that he has been the driving force behind the change of this team. We'll see what he comes up with on SuperDraft Day as there are still a few areas that could use some adjusting. But, now that Kreis is secured for a few seasons, that is one less thing RSL will need to worry about.