7/28 The NERds @ RSL

This review will be a little less in-depth than some others, but I will do my best. The reason being that I watched much of the game in fast forward (yay for dvrs) and with all the new players on the field for RSL, it was hard to tell who was who. Anyway, onward and upward...

RSL came out pretty strong and I would say nearly dominated the first 25 minutes or so. They seemed into the game and ready to really give it some effort. However, even during this good stretch, a familiar problem popped up (one that would eventually cost them a chance at winning the game). That problem is RSL's inability to set up a dangerous attack. When the passes are there, the runs are not. When the runs are there, the passing is not. That having been said, I think RSL missed Esky a LOT in this game. Chris Brown contributed little to nothing and I think Alecko would have found a way to make his presence known. Anyway, at about 25 min in, the NERds finally decided to show up and start playing with RSL. Despite much of what I have heard and read, I do not think the Revs dominated the rest of the half. They outplayed RSL for stretches, but I think the rest of the half was pretty even. The big difference was that NE has some quality attacking players who were able to make their attacks dangerous, whereas RSL's attacks usually just sort of sputtered out. RSL went into the half down 1-0 after another of their trademark defensive breakdowns (it doesn't matter who's on the field, RSL can always throw together a good defensive lapse). A nice pass to the edge of the penalty area led to a beautiful header pass from Twellman to Noonan. Noonan, who had, oh....about 30 feet of empty space around him, made a nice juke move and buried the ball past Rimando for the goal. Where was the defense on the play? I'm not really sure. Who was supposed to be marking Noonan? No idea, they were so far away that you couldn't find them. Is it a good idea to leave Pat Noonan WIDE open on the edge of the six yard box? Not if you want to win. Half time score: NERds 1, RSL 0.
Half grade: B (higher without the defensive lapse)

The second half started out more like an RSL game normally does. With the other team in charge. RSL tried to hang around, but the attack looked very weak and was very turnover prone. In the 59th minute the NERds subbed in Khano Smith who soon after took advantage of another RSL defensive miscue (very similar to the 1st-WHERE is the defense???) to blast a wide open shot on goal. However, this one bounced off the crossbar and to RSL who put it out for a corner. On the ensuing play, Smith got another shot from nearly the same spot (although actually somewhat defended) and put it about 8 miles over the goal. Memo to New England: Don't let Smith shoot from there, he can't hit it. Even fat little me would have buried one of those two shots... Soon after, Andy Williams (or, if he played basketball, A-Will; basketball nicknames are SO clever) was given a debatable straight red on a hard, but not especially dirty, tackle on Dorman. Strangely enough, after going a man down (and after the subs of Watson and K. Brown) RSL picked it up and was actually the better team for quite a while. They finally applied some offensive pressure and it paid off when Beckerman drew a penalty after a nice pass from the wing from Kyle Brown. Beckerman went into the teeth of the defense (with 3 NERds in the area), got taken down, and earned the PK. Carey Talley stepped up and put it away to tie the game at 1. You could color me shocked (or color me badd..."I wanna sex you up!"....ahem, sorry). Kreis soon after made the sub of Harris for Findley (by the way, FSC announcers, it's Findley with an E, find-LEE, not Findlay with an A, find-LAY...stupid...), obviously going for the tie. Harris brought fresh legs, but also his defensive qualities from playing D-mid. Of course, being RSL, it didn't work. About 80 minutes in, the NERds "earned" a free kick after a nice dive by Noonan right outside the box. In NE's defense, Larentowicz hit an absolute scorcher of a free kick that beat Rimando to make it 2-1. After that, RSL played with the usual defeatist attitude they usually do after going behind and coasted in for the loss.
Half grade: C+

Pros:
-The early intensity was something that has been lacking all year.
-Sturgis, Wingert, and especially Beckerman are all obvious upgrades.
-RSL did actually score.
-They hung around even after going down a man.

Cons:
-The announcers-mispronounciations and too much NE love.
-The refs, as always. Can't MLS get some refs who are consistent and don't fall for EVERY dive???
-The same old defensive lapses.
-The offense needs work.
-Esky's injury

Game grade: B-
An improvement, and against a good team, but more work is obviously needed.

Player grades:
Nick Rimando-6 Solid, but unspectacular
Jean-Martial Kipre-6 Made some nice runs on offense, defense was so-so
Ritchie Kotschau-6 Quiet, but I suppose that's good
Eddie Pope-6 (See Nick Rimando)
Chris Wingert-6 Some nice crossing, defense was hit or miss
Kyle Beckerman-8 Good hustle, earned a tough PK
Nathan Sturgis-6 Decent, curious how he'd do on RSL's back line
sub(Jamie Watson 70')-6 Didn't get all the way into the game it seemed
Carey Talley-7 Bonus point for a nice penalty
Andy Williams-5 OK game, but not the good game RSL needs from him
Robbie Findley-5 Has been pretty quiet since DC game-injuries bothering him?
sub(Atiba Harris 73')-6 Had a nice play but was on for RSL's "mopey time"
Chris Brown-4 Was he on the field? Esky may have made the difference in this one...
sub(Kyle Brown 61')-7 Had some nice moments, started the play that earned the PK

RSL Man of the Match: Kyle Beckerman (did RSL fleece the crapids or what???)

Assclown of the week: (tie) Shalrie Joseph & the Fox Soccer announcers
Joseph played dirty, dirty, dirty...some 'nonchalant' elbows, shoves, etc. etc. Play soccer, not "6th grade bully."
The announcers sounded like they were hometown announcers for the NERds. One completed pass became "20 minutes of domination by New England." And learn to pronounce Findley. Seriously...

7/21 Everton @ Real Salt Lake thoughts

I finally got a chance to watch the Everton friendly from Saturday tonight. Wow. It may not have always been pretty, but RSL beat (fairly handily) a high-level EPL team, 2-0. No, Everton wasn't at full strength, or full fitness, or fully adjusted to the altitude, or the heat, or etc. etc. etc. Doesn't matter. It's Everton. Against RSL and their amazing 9 points on the season. Amazing. Way to go RSL.

Some observations:
-It was nice to get a chance to see many of the reserve guys that you don't normally get to see. Even Dustin Kirby got off the bench!
-The more I see Jamie Watson play, the more I like him. He's a scrapper and gets his nose into everything.
-Nik Besagno started! It's about damn time!
-Reynish looked surprisingly solid in goal. Looks like we may have two good young goalies...
-Does Andy Johnson want to be our DP? Is he sure? Boy, did he look dangerous...
-O Willis, THERE art thou!!! Good to know he's still alive. Hopefully we'll see him again soon!

O Willis, Where Art Thou (a work in progress)

Written in about 2 minutes as I am half asleep (and probably to be worked on later when I'm awake), so be kind. But really, what HAS happened to Mr. Forko?

You came from UConn
A man we used a draft pick on
Played well as a rookie
Now has the team forsook thee?

You worked on the back line
We thought that you did fine
But Kotschau and Stewart
Now have you usurped

When Liberia called
RSL was apalled
They said you were injured
Now you've disappeared

O Willis where art thou?
I wish that we knew now
Gone from a starter
To the non-playing roster

Come back to us soon
We'd be over the moon
You're young with some talent
...and really, RSL needs all the help they can get right now ;)

A couple things

First of all, if somehow you hadn't heard, RSL has traded "attacking" midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy to the Crapids in exchange for Kyle Beckerman. Hooray! I'm sorry, but Mehdi has been nothing short of terrible this year and Beckerman will bring experience (he has even played for the national team) and some much needed defensive bite to the midfield. Perhaps if Ballouchy had shown an ability to do any of the following: shoot, cross, hit set pieces, complete a reasonable amount of his passes, it would have been a different story, but this year he hasn't. While I still believe he has the potential to still become a very solid player, I am glad that we gave up potential (that may or may not ever develop) for a solid, known commodity (that's basically the same age). Plus, Freddy (or Okocha or someone else we may sign) will be able to take over at attacking central mid, and we can see what he can do. On top of all that, it also frees up a Senior International (SI) roster spot for RSL next year, when Mehdi will gain that status. It's amazing that I can say this, but some of the recent personnel moves by RSL haven't actually been awful. Even the much derided Esky/Cunningham trade I like. Esky's much younger and plays with heart that Cunny just doesn't have. Plus, RSL gets cap space and an extra first round pick coming up. Hopefully they can do something with it.

The other thing is just a note on something I heard on yesterday's Bill Riley show on 700 AM. Someone sent him an absolutely classic e-mail. I don't remember it word for word but here are the highlights:
-Why is Danny Torres still playing for RSL? He can't stop a nosebleed, let alone a striker.
-Nick Rimando is great and therefore should punch Torres in the face and thereby injure him so he can't play.
It was so ridiculous and over the top that it was amazing. I'll see if I can find a transcript (or better yet, someone with an audio copy of the show) and post it if I can find one. It was truly a high point in sports radio.

PS-Despite his recent play, I do like Ballouchy (and he has shown flashes), and wish him all the best. And hopefully he won't have to spend too much time with Pablo....yuck...can you imagine it? ;)

7/14/07 RSL @ Kansas City

I decided with all the (completely reasonable and justified) negativity around RSL, I would start this review on a positive note: I am glad to say that wasn't nearly as bad as I had expected. Having said that, it certainly wasn't that good either.

First off, what on earth was with that starting lineup? I think Jason joined the "That 70s Show" kids in 'the circle' when he came up with that one. Kyle Brown & Lancos (and the new guy, Wingert, who probably has no idea what's going on yet) over Williams and Watson? A midfield of Wingert, Talley, Harris, and Kipre???!? Color me confused.

And the team as well! They came out and often looked completely lost as to where they were supposed to be and what they were supposed to be doing. The passing was atrocious (I believe more passes were completed to the Wiz this half than to our own team. The defense was way off. How do you give Eddie Johnson a 15 yard cushion just outside the penalty area??? More than once??!?! The positioning was bad, the pressure wasn't there, and I decided that RSL doesn't actually understand the concept of the offside trap. The idea of the offside trap is to catch the other team in an offside position. However, most of RSL seems to think it means to run up so that the other team is just barely ONSIDE, but so that your momentum takes you the wrong way and the opposing forward can run past you unopposed. And if that's what they were trying for, well done boys! Anyway, the bad defense finally bit RSL as Johnson got free past Torres and put a shot off the post. Torres of course then didn't really bother to cover for a rebound and Johnson put it away, one to nothing, "I'm taking a" Wiz (yes, an old joke, but it's a classic). Another problem that seems to be plaguing RSL is a complete fear of shooting the ball. A prime example came about 23 min. in when Kipre had the ball in the 6 yard box and had his defender beat. Yes, it was a tough angle, and no, it probably wouldn't have gone in, but instead of shooting he tried to force a pass back and RSL never got a shot off, but instead turned it over. I'm sorry, but you can't score if you don't shoot. So once again, RSL players, please, SHOOT THE DAMN BALL!!!! The rest of the half went pretty much the same, with KC dominating possesion and with RSL getting no chances and the defense looking lost. If you watched Rimando this half you couldn't help but feel for him. He was so obviously livid with the back line for leaving the Wiz players so open. I can't recall the last time I saw someone's face so red! And I don't blame him a bit. A couple other thoughts on the 1st half: First, I'm still not convinced that Jewsbury's tackle shouldn't have been a straight red. He went in studs up on Wingert as retaliation for a semi-late (but not too hard of a) tackle earlier in the half. But whatever, it's just when guys get chippy like that, bad things usually happen. Second, RSL actually did a little better in the last 5 min. or so. They certainly didn't have the run of play but they evened things up a bit. Lastly, congrats to Carey Talley for what I think is the best free kick (or any set piece) RSL has hit this year. It didn't amount to anything, but it was hit hard and into a dangerous area in the box. Not one of those floaty pieces of crap that fly over everyone that we get from Mehdi and Freddy. Congrats!
Half grade: D-

The second half was a revelation after the first. First of all, the halftime subs of Williams for Wingert and Watson for Brown were great. That should've been the starting lineup. I guess the high wore off by this point, ha ha. The half started about how the first ended, with both teams about even. The midfield continued to let the team down at first, especially Atiba Harris. His passing was even worse than usual and he continually turned the ball over. When the midfield did link up, they never could get the final pass (another problem that has stuck with RSL all year). The crosses were bad, the through balls were to no one, and no one was making runs off the ball into the box. Plus, still no one would shoot! (See: Williams, 57th min.; Watson & Findley 58th). It continued this way, until around the 65th minute. Williams started to look more comfortable and the passing/possesion improved. Then, it happened. Jamie Watson took a long shot! Thank the heavens! At least he realizes you can't score if you don't shoot! Then Kreis made a brilliant move, replacing Findley with Kenny Cutler (remember him?), going with an extra man in the midfield and putting Atiba up front (where his passing could no longer hurt). Suddenly, RSL was enjoying the run of play. Atiba went from absolutely awful to pretty darn good. Watson was all over. The defense markedly improved. They looked like and honest to God professional soccer team out there (well, maybe not, but much improved over the last couple of weeks at least). On the down side, no they didn't score, and yes, they lost again, but at least RSL looked somewhat dangerous at times. They even looked, gasp, competitive. There was some heart and some hustle. It was nice to see. Definitely the best half since the DCU game. But then, with how atrocious the Columbus and Toronto games were, that's not saying a lot. Final KC 1-RSL 0.
Half grade: B

Pros:
-The last 30 min. or so! Wow! RSL DOES play soccer after all!
-Rimando solid again.
-The back line has Eddie Pope to save them.
-There was some effort!
-It didn't turn out to be the 3 or 4 to 0 debacle I was expecting.
-I saw a guy walking around town in an RSL jersey.

Cons:
-RSL still can't score.
-The defense looked terribly disorganized for large portions of the game.
-The midfield looked terribly disorganized for large portions of the game.
-RSL lost again.
-The video from KSL was awful. Way too many holds on irrelevant things while plays developed on the field.
-The guy I saw was wearing a Danny Torres jersey. Why? :)

Game grade: C

Player grades:
Nick Rimando-7 Justifiably frustrated
Chris Lancos-5 Quiet, but team's defense was bad
Eddie Pope-6 Only thing holding the defense together
Daniel Torres-4 Got beat for the only goal
Ritchie Kotschau-5 See Chris Lancos
Jean-Martial Kipre-5 Good speed, bad crosses
Atiba Harris-in MF 3, at FWD 6 Horrible passing, great energy
Carey Talley-6 Extra point for the free kick
Chris Wingert-6 Decent effort for the first game with RSL
sub(Jamie Watson 46)-7 Great hustle and effort, looked solid (I guess it's time for another JK lecture)
Robbie Findley-4 Did he play? Needs to make more of an impact
sub(Kenny Cutler 69)-6 Team played much better after he came in
Kyle Brown-6 Did a good job getting involved, great hustle
sub(Andy Williams 46)-6 Helped settle the midfield

RSL Man of the Match: Jamie Watson

And by request, assclown of the week goes to Jack Jewsbury for his "revenge tackle" for something that wasn't that bad to begin with. Plus, he's just kind of a creepy looking guy to boot! ha ha ha

This week's fantasy lineup

Before the season started DCU Ben got me to start a MLS fantasy league team on mfls.com. I've had a pretty good run this season, although the Gold Cup, Copa America, and, to an extent, the U-20 World Cup have cost me a lot of my subs. That being said, I'm holding my own, second in my group, although only by 2 points. Without further ado, here is this week's lineup for my "Dashing Superheroes" (<-Space Ghost reference):

---------------------------Hesmer (CLB)---------------------------

------Wynne (TOR)-----Barrett (HOU)-----Jewsbury (KC)------

----Mapp (CHI)--Victorine (KC)--Holden (HOU)--Marinelli (KC)----

--------Johnson (KC)------Galindo (CHV)------Angel (NY)---------

A lot of Houston (2 games this week) and Kansas City (it just sort of happened I had them all on my team, but they are all starting with this week's game against RSL). I hate to pick so many guys that are going against Real, but I just have a bad feeling about that game, and combined with last week's craptacular vs. Columbus (and Toronto), I'm just playing the averages. Hopefully, RSL will win and my team will tank, but I guess either way I win, ha ha. Fortune favors the bold, indeed.

mfls.com also has a "prediction league" where you try and guess the results of each week's games. I'm doing pretty well in that one, after a big week last week, sitting at #58 overall on the site. My picks are always based off my gut feeling at the moment and involve little to no deep thought behind them, so take it with a grain of salt. This week's picks:

HOU 2 @ CHI 0
DAL 0 @ DCU 1
NER 2 @ NY 1
RSL 0 @ KC 3
CLB 1 @ CHV 1
TOR 1 @ HOU 2

Anyway, that's it for my pointless fantasy league ramblings today. Peaceness kids!

7/7/07 RSL @ Columbus

So much for 07/07/07 being the luckiest of days. RSL, despite most of the team coasting through the game, hung with a surging Columbus team and then, as is becoming customary, had it all fall apart at the end. Final result: RSL 0, the Spew 2.

The first half of the game was pretty even. The possession seemed about even with the only difference being that the Crew used the possession to mount attacks, while RSL, as usual, looked lost. That's not to say Columbus looked very dangerous (they didn't) and other than 1 or 2 shots were completely harmless. RSL had a few chances in the half (the wasted Williams free kick/"shot" from just outside the box comes to mind) but never really mounted a decent challenge. Also, for some reason, Carey Talley was AWFUL. No hustle and turned the ball over immediately on the few times he touched it, but he spent most of the half just standing there. Awesome...way to earn that $120,000 Carey... All in all, a pretty slow, boring first half. On a side note, the Directkick feed for the game featured only crowd noise for the audio until just after half time. Even during commercials (pre-game and half time) you would only hear things going on in the stadium. It was kind of fun to hear the CC PA guy and their crowd's chants. Which, by the way, were terribly uninspired. My personal favorite was this gem: "Go home Salt Lake, go home!" Wow...intimidating...
1st half grade: C-

The second half went much like the first for the first 30 minutes or so. Only 3 RSL players seemed to actually want to win or care about the match at hand: Esky, Rimando, and Eddie. Everyone else was just on cruise control, which is obviously the best way to break out of a season-long slump! If you need a win, just mail it in! Pathetic. Anyway, it was pretty even again in this half, although I must say the refs were a little whistle happy on the fouls. Then, IT happened. Probably the absolute worst penalty kick call I have ever seen. Kotschau has position and tackles the ball away (and gets all ball). Somehow that is a PK. Just awful. Schelotto puts it away and it is 1-0. It is here if you want to see it (scroll down to where it says "07/07: Guillermo Schelotto buries PK", that's it). Soon after this, a now dejected AND lethargic RSL team gives up another goal when Danny Torres decides he doesn't really feel like playing defense, so he'll just pretend he is. He let Moreno send a cross in and a very nice finish by Gaven made it 2-0. Then RSL fell apart, as did the refs. RSL seemed to get a yellow card a minute the rest of the way, while Columbus somehow didn't ever get called even for a foul (note the 23-8 discrepancy in fouls called, or the 5 cards to 0). RSL didn't help the matter by doing things like Esky's bizarre super late hit on Schelotto (nice acting and diving by him on it by the way) which got him a second yellow, aka a red. RSL limped to the end for a 2-0 loss.
Half grade: F

Pros:
-Esky (until the red)
-Eddie Pope
-Nick Rimando
-Medhi got a yellow and is now suspended for the next match for card accumulation! He has been awful all year and I think we'll be better off.
-Jack Stewart didn't start!

Cons:
-Basically the rest of the team besides Esky, Eddie, and Nick.
-Esky's poor decision that got him a red and will sit him next game.
-The team has given up, you can see it in their play. I'd be shocked to see another win...
-The passing, poor all year, was especially atrocious in this game.
-The midfield proves itself to me to be more and more useless with each passing game.
-The absolutely terrible PK call. What was this guy watching? (and furthermore, if that's a PK, why is Hejduk's bodyslam of Esky just minutes later NOT one???)
-Danny Torres' decision to be like Stewart and give up a goal.

Game grade: D-

Player grades:
Nick Rimando-8 Another great game wasted
Jean-Martial Kipre-6 Had moments, but too many mistakes
---(Jamie Watson 82)-6 Hesitate to grade him, due to his late sub, but had a nice late run
Eddie Pope-7 This game is exactly why he's retiring. I'd hate to have to anchor this team too!
Daniel Torres-5 Pretty quiet until the second goal that he basically gave the Spew.
Ritchie Kotschau-6 Decent game, penalty called on him was dubious at best
Carey Talley-4 Just awful and no hustle
Atiba Harris-6 Passing was bad, effort was ok
Andy Williams-5 He's not the answer at a-mid either. Passing was very bad for his position
---(Chris Lancos 87)-NA Not enough time to do anything
Mehdi Ballouchy-5 More mistake prone soccer yay
Alecko Eskandarian-7 Played more left midfield than forward (due to poor midfield play), but was all over in the game.
Robbie Findley-5 Didn't show up.
---(Chris Brown 64)-6 quiet, quiet game

RSL Man of the Match: Nick Rimando

7/4/07 RSL v. Toronto FC

Le sigh...

What else can be said? Let's face facts here: this RSL team is terrible and continues to show it week after week. This week's showcase of suck came against Toronto FC.

I had a bad feeling coming into this game and now I know why. RSL was beaten at home at altitude against an expansion team that had not won a road game up until this point. Just sad. The first half, however, was surprisingly decent. Findley made an amazing play early to get open and was denied, not by TFC, but by the post. A few minutes later, freshly shorn Jeff Cunningham scored the opening goal off a nice header flick by Dichio. Let's just forget the fact that Cunningham was very clearly offside, the officiating crew certainly did. After that RSL really and truly controlled the game for the rest of the half and really should have put together a couple of scores, but as usual, the finishing was awful. Late in the first half Alecko got free in the box and was subsequently tackled from behind (NFL, not soccer, style) by two Toronto players, setting up a PK which Esky buried. yay for Esky! Half time score: 1-1
1st half grade: B+

The second half, to be generous, was a disaster. RSL looked completely lost and Toronto took control. You'd think RSL were the ones having issues with the altitude. But somehow RSL hung around despite numerous defensive slip-ups and very pedestrian midfield play. Then it happened. On yet another horrible play out of the midfield Samuel got past Kipre with the ball. Kipre hit him a little (although to be honest, I've seen much worse go uncalled) and a PK was given, which was a bit iffy also because it appeared to me that the contact was outside the box. But then, these are MLS referees and they seem to exist in a different reality from the rest of us. Samuel put away the PK, and then it was thank you, good night, drive home safely. Toronto 2 RSL 1.
2nd half grade: D-

This was a VERY winnable game for RSL, especially coming off of a bye week AND a win, and they blew it. It was really painful to watch and I was kinda left feeling that I wanted that hour and a half of my life back.
Interestingly, on the TFC PK, the local color guy (former RSL player Brian Dunseth, very good) said it was a makeup call for the RSL PK and that refs look to make up any PKs they call. That is not right...if a team earns a penalty that is obvious (such as Esky's in this game) they should not be penalized for it. That's ridiculous. Like I said about MLS refs and reality...
Also interesting were a couple quotes from TFC coach (and obvious assclown) Mo Johnston (thanks to RSL's home page for the quotes).
On the Samuel penalty: "He drew that PK, which I felt was a red card; I feel that's the last man." Hmm...first he really didn't draw much contact. Second, and more importantly, Esky was the last man WHEN TWO OF YOUR PLAYERS TACKLED HIM FROM BEHIND!!! If that's not a red, Kipre's certainly isn't. Assclown.
On the game (and its chippiness at times): "I felt [RSL] were over aggressive, in a lot of ways. We came here to play soccer and I don't think there was much soccer played. I'm disappointed in that part; we're a good soccer team and the tactics that you saw tonight weren't acceptable." Hmmm...Mo, I don't know what game you were watching but RSL was not aggressive in any facet of the game. Had they been, they would have won. Also, if you are implying that RSL was dirty and too physical (which he is), I once again say, what game were you watching? From the tackle on Esky to JC nearly punching out Andy Williams (who hadn't even been the one to foul him) to JC's tirades against the refs to etc., etc., etc. it was your team playing a bit dirty. Did you see Robinson in this game? O'Brien's body slam of "Red Card" Kotschau? No? Maybe you should watch the game next time. Assclown.
Game grade: D-

Pros:
-Esky scored! Esky scored!
-Findley looks like a stud.
-Medhi wasn't playing central mid! It's about time!
-Jack Stewart stupidly threw a ball at a TFC player and later kicked Samuel in the back of the head behind the play. Neither was called but the league will obviously suspend him. This will improve our defense by virtue of him not being on the field to screw things up as he usually does.
-Jamie Watson played amazingly well in his short stint in the game and even hit the crossbar on a play that would have tied it.
-I was at the Bees game where Salt Lake hit a homerun with two outs in the ninth to win, so I didn't sit home and watch the game live. I recorded it and was able to get through the game faster (1x fast forward on the directv dvr is brilliant for watching soccer, especially slow parts)

Cons:
-The defense was pretty shaky, especially in the second half
-The midfield was awful in the second half.
-The whole team was awful in the second half.
-The refs as usual
-RSL lost yet again.
-The KSL play by play guy (Tom Kirkland, I believe) is AWFUL and obviously knows next to nothing about the game of soccer.


Player grades:
Nick Rimando-7 solid but unspectacular
Jean-Martial Kipre-5 just decent until the penalty
Eddie Pope-6 strangely quiet game
Jack Stewart-5 went insane, kicked a dude in the head
Ritchie Kotschau-6 quiet but not many big mistakes
Carey Talley-6 solid hardnosed play
Atiba Harris-7 gets into everything, his kind of game: chippy
Andy Williams-6 did ok running the midfield, 2nd half was ugly
sub-(Jamie Watson 73)-8 like savoir faire, he was everywhere
Mehdi Ballouchy-6 still bad crosses & set pieces, but looked better on the left
Robbie Findley-7 very aggresive, very fast, caused problems
sub-(Kyle Brown 70)-7 did pretty well, played with some passion
Alecko Eskandarian-8 worked hard as usual, deserved the goal
RSL man of the match: Alecko Eskandarian

Welcome

Hello there internet land kids, and welcome to the Royal Review. A (probably) sparsely updated blog about MLS team Real Salt Lake. I mainly will post recaps of games, but if I feel the need to post other things (previews, news, commentary) it will go here. This is also being designed to be the official RSL home of the Ben Cup, a yearly rivalry between RSL and DC United. So thanks for coming by and enjoy the blog. I will start by posting my most recent review from the July 4th Toronto match. For older reviews check out the Ben Cup group listed below. Thanks! Peaceness.

For more Ben Cup love try:
The Edgell Supporters (DC home of the Ben Cup)
The Ben Cup group on myspace