RSL 2-0 Everton FC, RSL 1-1 Boca Jr.’s, RSL ?-? New England
By: Wiz | July 25th, 2007So we were treated to some entertaining matches over the weekend. The Everton crowd was a bit smaller and less vocal than their Boca counterparts but both were fun to host. I was really impressed with David Moyes, the manager for Everton FC. He came over and spoke with the Everton supporters and RSL fans during warm-ups for about 15 min. Nice guy. The Boca fans were great with the singing and the festive flair. But the RSL fans deserve some credit too. They were loud and supportive through both matches even when the play settled down a bit.
Now I don’t want to spend the whole time doing a recap so I’ll move on to the next match. Where do these two games leave RSL? Did you see anything that will give you hope for the rest of the season? One person responded that Mehdi was soft and Beckerman had some bite. Did you see any of that Beckerman bite during the two games? I think the team can certainly build on these two experiences. Hopefully we can continue to impress: Joleon Lescott was impressed with Real Salt Lake on Saturday (Everton’s huge center back) “I thought they did well and were sharp,” he said. “I’ve been told they are bottom of their league, which I find surprising because they fully deserved their victory.” So Who is your starting eleven based on the performances you saw on Saturday and Tuesday? Final score against New England?
Category: Team News
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Looks like 2 impressive results for RSL on the weekend. Everton and Boca are both high quality clubs. It will be interesting to watch the box scores and see if Salt Lake can carry that momentum through to league play. Time will tell as always.
Posted from
Canada
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mgelz85,
Time will tell, you are right. The Revolution will test RSL’s ability to maintain a high from these two performances. If I am coach Kreis I’m telling the media, hey take it easy we’re still relatively new to each other with all the new acquisitions etc…But lets be honest. The fans are grasping for anything as a sign that the season won’t be a total loss.Posted from
United States -
I think the team is finally getting the right pieces together (to bad we can’t get Beattie from Everton - he would make a nice striker) Team: GK Rimando; D - Kotschau, Pope, Sturgis, Forko; MF Talley, Beckerman, Findley (wing), Williams (or Watson) Stikers: Eskandarian, Edu
Posted from
United States -
I agree that it may take some time for the team to gel but the nucleus is young and very promising from my perspective. The quality of play in the midfield improved dramatically with the addition of Beckerman. It is great to see RSL be able to combine and build up in attack through the middle.
Starting XI: GK Rimando; D-Sturgis, Pope, Harris, Kipre; MF- Williams, Beckerman, Adu, Talley; F- Findley, Eskandarian. I think that Harris would be great as a central defender next to Pope and with Williams and Talley on the left and right wings respectively, Adu can play a central attacking role where he can have the most success. Adu is not a forward or winger. I would also like to see Besagno and Jimenez get more time. Watson should be a second half sub at right winger. Just my thoughts for what it is worth.
Posted from
United States -
I like that we have options on the RB and LB. I’ve noticed that some of you have Kipre in there and Kotschau over Forko. Do you think Ritchie has beat out Forko for the rest of the season? I liked the performances so far from Kipre. He seems to be getting better with each start. Freddy in the middle seems to be a logical choice. I like Andy on the right as well. I would like to see those two combine a bit more.
Posted from
United States -
Harris in the middle as center back? Hmmm. That’s an idea I haven’t thought of before. I like him in that holding midfielder role. He really gets under the opposing team’s skin. If he could show a little more discipline I might agree with you Chowda. I also like the 4-3-3 they played against Everton FC.
Posted from
United States -
Wiz, I also have liked Harris in the holding mid role but I think that Beckerman is a far better choice there. I know that Harris is still raw and wherever he is at he will need more time to develop. However, with his aggressiveness and ability in the air, I see him contributing the most at central back. Also I have to say that Kipre is far and away our beck outside back. He can really play either side but his speed and ability to mark wingers and forwards has been amazing. He is my favorite player to watch on RSL and I think he is very underrated. Just take a few minutes of an upcoming game to watch him off the ball for a while and see how well he does at marking guys. Forko is probably better than Kotchau but Willis has been making a lot of mistakes lately and Kotchau is so solid. Also, I think it might take the rest of the year for Jimenez to get back to full speed coming off the knee injury but I like his skill at left wing.
Posted from
United States -
Chowda,
I agree with you on Beckerman. We really made out on that trade (so far). With Talley, Beckerman and Cutler able to play holding mid a move to the backline for Harris might work. Would he be willing though? I like your idea.
Kipre is constantly impressing me. He had some trouble early with clearing the ball and being able to read his teammates but I think that is all behind him now. He looks solid and his overlapping runs get deep. Great acquisition. I heard Willis had some fitness problems and therfore got on the wrong side of coach Kreis. But, I have liked him from day one. He has great form when he plays the ball out and long. He was left on an island when Freddy was playing left wing and I think a lot of teams picked up on that and overloaded on that side. But, I think Forko will get the message and we will see more of him. Great comments. Keep them coming!
What do you think about formation options?Posted from
United States -
I think that it is hard to say on formations because it really depends on your personnel. I have always been a fan of a traditional 4-4-2 with an attacking mid that really supports the strikers well. I am actually a huge fan of both Findley and Ecko as Strikers and I think that our real weakness is wingers. I know that the focus on a DP has been for an attacking mid or forward but i would love to see a quality winger.
Since we don’t have quality wingers and that really is the key to playing a 4-4-2, I don’t really know what the solution would be in this case. I guess you could almost have some sort of a wierd 4-2-1-3 formation where you have Talley and Beckerman as holding mids that run out to cover opposing wingers on D. Then a guy like Williams in the middle of the park that plays above them and combines to move the ball out of the back. A great attacking mid would be required that can roam and get the offense going (Adu). Then 3 up top with Eskandarian and possibly Watson providing width in the attack. I know that this is a strange formation but I think it would help us a lot in dominating the midfield which in my opinion is the key to winning soccer games. I think if a MLS team could play “jogo bonito” type of soccer they could really dominate. This is basically a style of soccer that is about fluid and skilled soccer without all the tactical fouling and long balls and other stuff that has dominated soccer in the last few decades around the world. Think of the Brazilian teams of the 70s and early 80s. Argentina is the only team that really plays that way anymore.
Posted from
United States
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