Real Salt Lake takes three points against Toronto - Now looks for three more against San Jose Friday Night
By: Rocky Cole |
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I thought Real Salt Lake was going to break my heart last Saturday night when Toronto came to town. RSL seemed flat at the start of the game against Toronto FC, looking like they’d overslept and were still in warm up mode. Visions of the last minute LA comeback danced in my head. But then, just when that “Oh No” feeling was creeping up my spine at minute 21, Yura Movsisyan slipped a controlled shot past the Toronto goalkeeper, Stefan Frei in a one-on-one play and RSL seemed suddenly alive and kicking. Movsisyan, who had a tough stretch in May and early June, has now scored or assisted on goals in the last four games. Yura is a joy to watch right now. You can see how much fun he is having, and his confidence is surging. This bodes well for RSL as they enter the next two games with four key players on international duty. Read the rest of this entry »
Bring it on Toronto
By: Rocky Cole | Add Comments
RSL has done pretty well of late. A road win in LA and a tie in Houston (while not as good as two resounding wins) were still pretty good results, and my hopes rose significantly. In a previous post I mused that the road monkey wouldn’t be off RSL’s back (in my eyes) until they strung two consecutive road wins together, but the heart they showed in earning a tie result in Houston while playing a man down has caused me to think that the monkey is finally off the teams’ back. Other than the annoying experience of listening to the Houston game announcer repeatedly pronounce the Premiere League team “EE-ver-ton” instead of Everton (I mean, c’mon… where did they get that guy) when hawking the upcoming MLS All-Star game to be played in Salt Lake, I was impressed with the teams heart and the new formation Kreis has put in. Read the rest of this entry »
Real tie Rapids at home and now face Galaxy away
By: Rocky Cole | Add Comments
Saturday night at home, Real played a match that looked like it could have been a win, but late in the game Colorado scored the equalizer and happily departed Rio Tinto Stadium with a tie and overall lead in The Rocky Mountain Cup. So close to a win and yet so far, but RSL coach Jason Kries was optimistic after the match and felt his players showed commitment and dedication in their play.
I’d agree that the play wasn’t bad, and Colorado is a tough team, even without two of their stars who were on duty with the US National Team. In fact, it looked like RSL had the win until Omar Cummings hammered a fantastic shot from the top of the penalty over the head of RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando. Read the rest of this entry »
RSL Rocked by the Quakes - The Road Monkey Remains
By: Rocky Cole | Add Comments
Hopes were high for Real Salt Lake heading into San Jose that Real could get the team’s first road win and drop off the monkey clinging to the team’s collective back. The monkey could probably use some time in the California sun after the Utah winter. Chances were good for a win or at least a point in San Jose, right? Real had played a solid game the week previous against a tough DC United team and came away with their first point on the road in a 0 - 0 draw. The Earthquakes - much like Real of late - had been taking their lumps on the road and at home so Real appeared to have a good chance.
Apparently San Jose did not get the memo. Even without Darren Huckerby, the Earthquakes handed RSL a 2 - 1 loss with a big San Jose smile that said, “Not in our house!” I sat in my chair and watched the game on TV and then asked myself, “What happened to RSL, they looked so good defensively last week?” I asked. My self (the voices from last week’s blog I think), replied, “At least they scored a goal on the road.” Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Team NewsVisiting hour at the “facility”
By: Rocky Cole | 1 Comment
I have been unable to post since watching Real tie the Galaxy in Rio Tinto last week in a game they should have won, and then fall to Chivas in LA on Saturday night. I would have been brave and written something, but the nice doctors at the “facility” I am staying at thought it might upset me, and then there is this silly rule about not allowing patien… I mean guests, anything sharp or electrical. But I’m okay now, I really am! Honestly, I watched the LA match and thought it was going well all the way into extra-time, didn’t you? And then, I look away from the screen for a second and wham! Next thing I know it’s Saturday night and I’m going through the same thing only this time it’s Chivas and not LA, but in LA, and… Nurse! Can I get some more of the happy medicine! Hey, but stuff happens, right? You can’t win them all, but if they are away games, you sure seem to be able to lose them all. Read the rest of this entry »
Real Goes Against Colorado Rapids in Rocky Mountain Cup
By: Rocky Cole | Add Comments
Just a short post today because the speculation has been made and the real action has to be out on the field. Seriously, RSL has shown they can play a solid game in Utah at Rio Tinto Stadium, but on the road… well, as much as I hate to admit it, not so much. Following the record breaking game RSL played against the Revolution, RSL got thumped up in Seattle in a cup game. Sure, most of the offensive starters rested, but you know what, so did the Sounder’s starters. That said, it seemed like Jason Kreis made a decision that the league games were the keys, and that is where he placed the emphasis. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Team NewsIt’s All About Intensity - and 29 Shots and 6 Goals Never Hurts
By: Rocky Cole | 2 Comments
What can I say about the game that Real Salt Lake played against the New England Revolution that hasn’t already been said? I mean, six goals in the second half, and lest it be construed that RSL was putting weak shots in, I point to the goals by Clint Mathis and Andy Williams, both of which are up for goal of the week. The week before, RSL coach Jason Kreis had said that the problem he saw with the team was not one of playing better at home than away, but that the team seemed to lack intensity in the first half of the game. Well, whatever happened at the training ground in Utah last week seemed to energize the team and there was no lack of intensity from the opening kick on. Sure, all six goals came in the second half of the game, but I think that is more a result of the New England Revolution being worn down by the incessant pounding they were receiving from RSL. Read the rest of this entry »
Real Takes on The Revolution
By: Rocky Cole | Add Comments
After last week’s game at The Meadowlands against The Red Bulls, Coach Jason Kreis defined the problem RSL seemed to be having as not one of “Roaditis” (a not so rare condition where teams cannot win on the road), but of “First-half-intensity deficit” (a syndrome where one’s team doesn’t seem to wake up for the first 45 minutes.) RSL hasn’t played badly this season at all, but they remain winless away from home. Again, Doctor Kreis has made the diagnosis that it is not home versus away, but a lack of focus and intensity at the start of games. RSL is determined to fix this, and this will be the first real test. OK, so got that… and raising opening intensity is doable… but RSL has a few other issues this week and being at home is a decidedly good thing. Read the rest of this entry »
Real Salt Lake falls to NY Red Bulls 2-0 at The Meadowlands
By: Rocky Cole | 1 Comment
I’d like to say something good about the way that RSL played in the game against the Red Bulls, so… RSL’s uniforms looked FAN-TAS-TIC! As for RSL’s play, not so much. I was expecting a game where RSL would come out with some of the fire they’ve shown in the past few weeks, but instead I was as shocked by the goal the Red Bulls slipped past Nick Rimando barely two minutes into the game as RSL seemed to be. Sure, New York’s Dane Richard’s may have gotten around RSL’s defender, David Horst, with a bit of a push that put him down, but what happened with the rest of the defense not backing up Horst and allowing the pass into Macoumba Kandji? After Kandji’s early goal, the Red Bulls continued to push and I believe that RSL had no shots on goal during the first half of the game. Read the rest of this entry »
Déjà vu All over Again?
By: Rocky Cole | Add Comments
Last November I’d wake up at three in the morning in a cold sweat screaming, “No, No, Not the Wood!” Yes, nightmares of the Western Conference Championship game between Real Salt Lake and the New York Red Bulls kept me up nights. That tragic game was at Rio Tinto Stadium and RSL had not yet made the place their own. Now, though, RSL seems to be clicking and have shown they can win both at home and on the road. This Saturday RSL rolls into New York to play a Red Bulls team that has not been at its best of late but is still dangerous. RSL may have something to prove after the nightmare of last season’s playoff game against the Red Bulls… but the Bulls are getting desperate for a win to turn their young season around. I won’t be there in person to see this game, but I will be glued to the TV watching the game live and hoping I won’t be replaying it over in my head in a cold sweat at two or three in the morning. Read the rest of this entry »
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