Agreed. I don't think it will mean much at all. A victory will be no major injuries. It's as as pointless to get upset over scrimmage losses as it is to get euphoric over scrimmage wins. Part of me wishes they didn't even keep/report scores.
I agree completely. I could not have said it better - there is so much line-up tinkering, player evaluations, etc to get any real indication of how the team is going to play when it matters. Perhaps a week or two before the season opener you might get some idea - but even then, it's last minute adjusting/tinkering. EDIT - I tried to rep you but it said I had to spread it around before doing it again... I swear I don't rep you that much!
I agree with both you and RSLFM, but the fact of the matter is they do report these things. Sadly, the only thing that MLSnet can report about RSL is negative information. I've been looking for stories on RSL for weeks. They've had two pre-season wins and a lot of good things happening, but what does MLSnet chose to report: Preseason roundup: RSL goes down http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20080220&content_id=139793&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp It seems like they perpetuate the hype, meaning if your team has done well or is highly popular, they're positive; whereas if your team hasn't done so well and isn't as popular, they're negative. I don't think it's appropriate.
so...do either of these reports not count as MLS reporting on RSL's wins? http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20080210&content_id=138570&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20080209&content_id=138527&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp
Didn't see this posted yet. Borchers is a key piece of RSL rebuilding process "While resting his ankle this offseason, Borchers got in contact with Robin Fraser, "and he told me a lot about the team and the changes that were being made, and I was really excited to come back," said Borchers." "Borchers' agent contacted both San Jose and Toronto and informed them his client wanted to play for RSL. With Toronto general manager Mo Johnston in the picture, cooperation was complicated. Johnston is the same person who selected then-RSL star Jason Kreis in Toronto's expansion draft two years ago despite no intention of keeping him. He knew RSL would cough up the cash to keep him, a brilliant move on his part."
MLS still viable in S. Florida Seven years after the Fusion played its final MLS season at Lockhart Stadium, Major League Soccer returns to Broward County with tonight's friendly between the Colorado Rapids and Real Salt Lake at the new 5,000-seat cricket stadium in Lauderhill.
So my dad updated Worldwide Soccer Manager 2008 to the latest version (with all the January Transfers). It has all the players, except Borchers, for Real Salt Lake. Plus, Olave is rated well above the rest of the Backs on our team. Just thought, I would pass on that I guess this game has high thoughts for Olave, as well.
Final from FL...2 RSL 2 Rapids"RSL controlled the play in the midfield, but never to get anything going once they were 25 yards out." (hmm... get used to this)
Here is a report from the game (thanks to RSLFM.com for the link) http://thesportsgranola.wordpress.com/2008/02/22/real-salt-lake-2-colorado-rapids-2/ This is the quote I found most interesting. RSL controlled the play in the midfield, but never to get anything going once they were 25 yards out. Why do I get the feeling that we are going to be seeing a lot of this in the coming months? LOL. RSLFM, you beat me to the punch.
Scoring: '19 COL: Erpen (Cooke free kick) '40 RSL: Movsysian "tap in" (Sturgis) '52 COL: O'Brien (Kirovski) '81 RSL: Espindola (18 yard free kick)EDIT: Official RSL Communications match report now posted in full HERE
A different POV http://www.coloradorapids.com/News/NewsDetails.aspx?NID=4T5Q/2380KY= RSL's lineup Nick Rimando (Chris Seitz 45), Ian Joy (Tony Beltran 60), Nat Borchers (Dustin Kirby 60), Matias Mantilla (David Horst 60), Chris Wingert (Craig Ziadie 60), Kenny Cutler (Matias Cordoba 60), Javier Morales (Kevin Reiman 60), Nathan Sturgis, Andy Williams (Alex Nimo 60), Robbie Findley (Fabian Espindola 45), Yura Movsisyan (Indra Daud 45)
Not exactly a confidence builder. I am concern that this team is not getting enough games against MLS team or better teams. Integrating all of these new players needs game situations to create an adequate understanding between them. Stay in Florida RSL. Get more game against other MLS teams in the area. Play Yura, Espindola, Cordoba, Morales together (not like tonight) and get Dema and Beckerman in there when given the chance. Bring in the Lynn FIU of the world for scrimmages practicing game situations as a check on whether or not the second team is competing hard and pushing the first team. Blackburn was in Florida earlier this week. Pay them how much it will take to play against them. Let JK get tutored by Mark Hughes on how to manage the game. Let the defense try to isolate Santa Cruz. Make Stugis understand the concentration needed to defend Morten. There was an opportunity lost.
They have 3 scrimmages in Argentina. If one of these is against Newell's Old Boys that will be a pretty good test. I agree that many other clubs are facing MLS competition in these preseason tournaments and we are missing out. We are already going to struggle with all the new faces, we could get off to a slow start.
No doubt this will be the problem. I do expect RSL to score off counterattacks, especially early in the season when the play in general is still sloppy and teams haven't adjusted to RSL having a compact midfield which tackles well. They should be able to win a lot of balls in midfield and feed Findley early. They could have some set play potential, but the question is, will anybody foul them? I'm still not sure I see enough individual talent to expect teams to have to take our guys down in front of the box all the time. If RSL is going to score any decent number of goals, they need to be great on corners and on crashing rebounds in the box.
Well - A win this time, but we aren't exactly burning the nets. It is interesting (if it's correct) that we scored in the first minute. Real Salt Lake 2 : 1 Florida Atlantic University RSL Spring Exhibition #6 Saturday, February 23, 2008 Holiday Inn Sports Complex – Sunrise, Fla. Scoring Summary RSL – Kyle Brown 1 (Tony Beltran 2) 1 RSL – Indra Sahdan Daud 2 (Robbie Findley 1) 50 FAU – (goal) 52 Discipline Summary None Real Salt Lake Line-up: GK-Kyle Reynish; DF-Tony Beltran (Brennan Tennelle 22), DF-Dustin Kirby, DF-David Horst, DF-Craig Ziadie; MF-Salim Bullen, MF-Matias Cordoba, MF-Alex Nimo (Kenny Cutler 45), MF-Kevin Reiman; FW-Tino Nunez (Indra Sahdan Daud 45), FW-Kyle Brown (Robbie Findley 45
If you'll notice, the majority of our lineup is reserves, and we did just play a game last night, so I wouldn't expect this to be a total sweep.
This was a lineup designed to expose mistakes and decide who to cut. But this needs to end soon. Kreis has to know who is best eleven are by early March and work on bringing that group together on the field. Then, barring injuries, he's got to give that eleven a run of 4-5 MLS games before deciding to make changes. However, I'm worried we'll start slowly with an entirely new back line that will let in many goals, forcing Kreis to chop and change in the first few games of the season. Competition for places in fine and dandy, but the first step to molding players into a team is for the coach to know his best eleven. I don't think Kreis had a clue about this last year.
The contract compliance date is March 3rd. Garth has said that they will be taking what they view as their opening day roster to Argentina. They will have some trialists join them in Argentina, and they could always add the much elusive forward at some point. But I believe Argentina will be about getting the team in to form for opening day, and figuring out who the starters will be.
Ouch! I wish I could debate the accuracy of this, but they've got a point. http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_8350091