With all due respect to Dynamo, Houston really doesn't know about the other half of life in Major League Soccer. It's a darker side that Real Salt Lake intends to introduce the defending MLS Cup champions to in Saturday's match at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
"They have some good players, but they have that winning mentality, and it's in their confidence," RSL's Kyle Beckerman said. "That's all they know now, they don't know the other side of it."
As Real Salt Lake prepares for a difficult home match, the team believes it can earn a victory even though Houston (10-5-4) has the best record in the league and Real (1-9-6) has the worst. Real coach Jason Kreis knows that feeling contrasts with how most other teams in the league feel.
"Every team right now, on paper, thinks they are better than us," Kreis said. "Most people would probably say we are up against it against any team we play."
However, Kreis said, things are different in the RSL locker room.
"I believe that when we are doing what we can do, we can be one of the best teams in the league," Kreis said. He saw indications of his team's potential last Saturday against the Revolution.
"We felt we were the better team," Kreis said. "That differs from what Stevie Nicol said after the game, but when I watch the video I see that we are the ones with the ball for the first 30 minutes of the game, moving well and playing well."
On the other hand, Real had Andy Williams on the field during that stretch of time. Williams, Real's best possession player, was shown a red card late in the game last week and is not available against Houston.
"It's going to hurt us," Kreis said. "We don't really have somebody that we feel is ready to step into his role if he's not available; it's going to cause us to change our shape a little bit."
Also hurting Real's lineup for Saturday, Alecko Eskandarian is questionable because of a hamstring injury. Plus, Real has three Argentineans waiting in the wings to fill the three empty roster spots; Kreis still is evaluating Edgar Espindola, Javier Morales and Matias Mantilla in training sessions, and until they sign with RSL, the coach's options are limited.
In the meantime, Real can only compete with what they have. The team's tendency of giving away late goals, Beckerman said, can only be combated with concentration throughout the game.
But overall, Real needs to get more aggressive.
"We just need to start getting some goals early," Beckerman said. "Just take the lead in the game, and then let's play; let's not have to come back from a goal down. We'll work on it, and when that starts happening, it could be contagious."
Peter Richins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
