Wahoo! MLS Preseason Begins in Arizona!

Wahoo, finally MLS preseason is here for Real Salt Lake! Now don’t get me wrong, I loved the offseason where I was able to rub in the fact that RSL took the cup from the “designated winner”, the LA Galaxy (In your face Alexi Lalas! Yhea, I said it!)

As detailed in numerous previous articles and posts, my belief in RSL and their “different way” of building a team started way back when Jason Kreis was selected as head coach. Let me tell you a little story. Back in 2008 I was coaching the freshman team of Wasatch High School in Utah. RSL was in preseason and was playing their last warm-up game before the ‘08 season at Skyline High School in Salt Lake. I took five or six of my players down to watch the game. The kids were thrilled and RSL beat their USL opponent handily. As we were exiting the field and the kids were getting autographs from the players, I saw Jason Kreis walking towards the exit. I pointed him out to my team and the kids rushed up and asked him for his autograph. Jason, stopped and said to the kids, “You don’t want my autograph. It’s all about the players.”

“But you’re the coach,” one of my players said, “that’s the most important part of the team!” (I swear I didn’t teach that to him.) Jason just smiled, stood there, and signed all the kids autographs while the crowd rushed by. The thing is, Kries really does believe it’s all about the players. That is the way that he and Garth Lagerwey, the General Manager of RSL built the team. They made a conscious choice to spread limited salary cap money among the players rather than go after one or two marquee players as the Galaxy and other teams have done.

At the end of the 2009 season I interviewed Garth Lagerwey about the win in the MLS Cup and the team’s plan for the future. Lagerwey stated simply that keeping the 2009 squad together was the priority. By and large Lagerwey and Kreis managed that ambitious task. RSL lost Yura Movsisyan, Chris Seitz and Clint Mathis, but the rest of the team remains intact. Beyond anything else, RSL is a “player’s team”, and now with the addition of assistant coach Miles Joseph, RSL is the only team in MLS to have the entire technical and coaching staff made up of former MLS players. Like last season, there are many soccer-pundits that are not giving RSL much chance this season, but the model RSL has focuses on the players and the team more than any other team in the league. Can RSL’s model carry them through MLS and CONCACAF Champions League play this season? Only time will tell.

RSL departed for preseason play in Arizona yesterday taking the following players along:

ALPHABETICAL ROSTER
# Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Birthdate Hometown College Status
12 Jean Alexandre MF 5-11 185 08/24/1986 Delray Beach, FL Lynn (Fla.)
29 Kris Banghart DF 6-1 190 03/01/1988 Ft. Collins, CO Denver
5 Kyle Beckerman MF 5-11 165 04/23/1982 Crofton, MD –
2 Tony Beltran DF 5-8 150 10/11/1987 Claremont, CA UCLA
6 Nat Borchers DF 6-2 175 04/13/1981 Pueblo, CO Denver
19 Pablo Campos FW 6-3 200 11/29/1983 Sao Paulo, Brazil Fresno Pacific University
23 Raphael Cox MF 5-6 140 07/07/1986 Tacoma, WA Washington
27 Justin Davis DF 6-0 170 05/06/1988 Avondale, AZ New Mexico
21 Rachid El Khalifi M/F 5-10 156 06/16/1979 Rotterdam, The Netherlands — Int’l
16 Fabían Espíndola FW 5-9 160 05/04/1985 Buenos Aires, Argentina — Int’l
10 Robbie Findley FW 5-9 165 08/04/1985 Phoenix, AZ Oregon State
22 Nelson González M/F 5-6 156 09/22/1988 Buenos Aires, Argentina — Int’l
20 Ned Grabavoy MF 5-7 150 07/01/1983 New Lenox, IL Indiana
33 David Horst DF 6-4 200 10/25/1985 Pine Grove, PA Old Dominion
8 Will Johnson MF 5-10 155 01/21/1987 Woodridge, IL –
30 Rauwshan McKenzie DF 6-1 185 11/19/1986 Hoffman Estates, IL Michigan State
1 Tim Melia GK 6-1 195 05/15/1986 East Islip, NY Lynn (Fla.)
11 Javier Morales MF 5-9 165 01/10/1980 Buenos Aires, Arg. — Int’l
7 Alex Nimo MF 5-5 135 03/21/1990 Portland, OR —
25 Tino Nuñez FW 5-8 185 08/22/1984 Long Beach, CA UC Santa Barbara
4 Jamison Olave DF 6-3 210 04/21/1981 Medellin, Colombia — Int’l
24 Kyle Reynish GK 6-3 190 11/03/1983 Valencia, CA UC Santa Barbara
18 Nick Rimando GK 5-9 185 06/17/1979 Montclair, CA UCLA
3 Robbie Russell DF 6-1 200 07/16/1979 Amherst, MA Duke
28 Chris Schuler DF 6-4 185 09/06/1987 Aurora, IL Creighton
13 Abe Thompson FW 6-0 170 01/12/1982 Fairfax Station, VA Maryland
26 Collen Warner MF 5-10 170 06/24/1988 Denver, CO Portland
77 Andy Williams MF 5-8 170 09/23/1977 Herriman, UT Rhode Island
17 Chris Wingert DF 5-11 170 06/16/1982 Babylon, NY St. John’s

** Nick Rimando, Kyle Beckerman and Robbie Findley are in Carson this week with the US MNT team as it prepares to play El Salvador in a friendly match. Rachid El Khalifi is in Europe on an authorized try-out but may join the team later.

Category: Team News