It’s All About Intensity – and 29 Shots and 6 Goals Never Hurts

By: Rocky Cole | April 28th, 2009

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.

RSL was relentless from the start and made 29 shots on goal with six going in, and as noted before, two of the goals are up for MLS goal of the week. New England weathered the first half storm but managed only six shots against RSL for the night, all handled effectively by Nick Rimando. RSL has a lot of positives to take away from the game: the scoring, the records, the win… but if you look a little deeper, I would say it’s all about the intensity that Kreis wanted and got. In other words, he defined a problem after the loss at New York, and his players responded. Now, the challenge will be to enjoy the way the intensity resulted in a high level of play and the results that came from that level of play. If the team listens to the coach this week as it did last week, and plays accordingly, RSL can move to the next level. Good intentions mean nothing without actions and results.

Tonight, RSL travels to Seattle for an Open Cup match, and then Saturday night they are in Denver to face the Colorado Rapids in their next MLS game. There are still some soccer-pundits saying, “Yes, but can RSL win on the road?” That’s a legitimate question, but I will bet that the rest of the MLS had a wake up call about RSL, and whether they are facing Real at their home stadiums or in Rio Tinto, playing RSL won’t be taken lightly.