Real Salt Lake Wins Opener – No Road Monkeys In Sight!

Findley, Beckerman and the Hardware

Saturday night I was blessed to be in Buck Shaw Stadium at Santa Clara University to watch Real open the 2010 MLS season against the San Jose Earthquakes. I am pleased to report that unlike last season, there were no “Road Monkeys” anywhere in the vicinity, and RSL looked fantastic in their opening game in defense of their 2009 MLS Crown. Before the match I was confident in RSL’s defense, which was basically unchanged from last season, but a little nervous about how the offense would fare without Yura Movsisyan in the middle. What I saw Saturday night put all fears to rest, and other MLS teams may want to give RSL a bit more “street cred” than it has so far. This advice, by the way, also applies to commentators such as… oh… Alexi Lalas, who continues to talk about every team in the league as a contender, but seems to forget RSL.

Just before the game, Kyle Beckerman, who was in the midst of warm up drills, gave me a thumbs up when I walked by, and his play on the field showed his confidence and control of the pace of the game. Beckerman has embraced his role as leader and field-general, and when he is in the game it is RSL dictating the pace of play. Robbie Findley continues to run past defenders, and his consistent breaks through the San Jose backline wrought havoc and gave Joe Cannon fits. Besides Findley’s fast play, Javier Morales and Fabian Espindola showed creativity and an eye for the goal that wasn’t always apparent last season. I have no idea what the offense did in the off-season – perhaps it was just the development of belief in their abilities from winning the MLS Cup – but they seem to be on fire.

Of course, the heart and soul of RSL remains the defense, and Borchers, Olave, Wingert and Russell form one of the strongest backlines in the league in front of Nick Rimando. Even so, “shots happen”, and Rimando remains one of the best instinctive, reaction save keepers on duty in MLS. His saves of some decent Quake strikes kept the sheet clean. Borchers and Olave got a bit banged up in the match, and while Borchers will play on Thursday night with the stitches in his face bandaged, Olave may not. Rauwshan McKenzie, the defender RSL picked up on waivers from Kansas City filled in ably when Borchers had to leave the game with a cut face, and he may have to play in Olave’s spot this Thursday when RSL takes on the Houston Dynamo. That game will be the MLS Game of the Week on ESPN2.

The turn around is quick this week, and how RSL responds will be a good indicator of what we may see this season. So far so good, and keep your eye out for Road Monkeys.

Category: MLS, RSL, Real Salt Lake, Team News