Real Salt Lake's first practice of the week on Tuesday morning meant an extra dose of clinical work for the team's collection of strikers.
The forwards were the last position group to be dismissed the team's practice field in Lehi in order to go through extra finishing drills. They worked on repeatedly attacking and shooting from all angles.
RSL coach Jason Kreis had a two-fold purpose: Improve the endurance of his frontline and improve their ability to score even in stretches where they feel tired.
"There's no question we're going to ask our forwards to do a lot of work," Kreis said. "They're going to have to work on both sides of the ball."
Finishing proved to be a problem in RSL's home opener against Chicago. The Fire were able to forge a 1-1 tie on Cuauhtemoc Blanco's last-second goal, in part, because Real Salt Lake could not finish on a number of scoring chances in the first half and early in the second half.
RSL outshot Chicago 17-8 and had nine shots on goal compared to only two for the Fire.
"We can't say we didn't create enough opportunities," forward Yura Movsisyan said. "The opportunities were there. We just need to be a little more focused and we'll be fine."
Movsisyan, in particular, showed he could attack the goal after getting open headers in the sixth minute and 49th minute against Chicago. But both of his would-be daggers ended up flying over the crossbar.
Fabian Espindola also delivered a pair of near-goals in the first 45 minutes. He attacked the box in the game's first minute, before firing off a shot close to the endline that landed in the waiting arms of Jon Busch.
Espindola had another chance to find the net after beating Brandon Prideaux inside the box in the 29th minute, only to have Busch meet him and cover up Espindola's shot at the near post.
Rather than focus on what could have been, Kreis chooses instead to emphasize the positives. He liked the tenacity he saw against the Fire -- especially in the first half -- from RSL's starting forwards.
Kreis was quick to remind reporters on Tuesday that this was only the team's first game and he would not pass judgment on the success or failure of his frontline based solely on the outcome of one contest.
Of all the things a team works on, he said, finishing is usually one of the last things to fall into place. And after seeing the game film a couple days later, Kreis saw many things RSL did versus Chicago which will serve as building blocks going forward.
"It was good to get back and watch the game and not have a different feeling at all," Kreis said. "I felt just as good as I did after the 90th minute that we were the only team that did anything -- the only team that played soccer, the only team that created chances."
Movsisyan feels like offense will flow even more smoothly now that a lot of the new faces on RSL's roster have had a chance to mesh together in regular season action.
"It was the first game," Movsisyan said. "A lot of nerves were in there. As long as we get one goal, we're going to keep scoring."
RSL will definitely need whatever goals it can produce in the weeks ahead. Starting with Chivas USA, Real Salt Lake can expect to face a string of teams who redefine the idea of a high-octane offense.
The Red-and-White were definitely formidable on offense in 2007. Chivas scored 46 goals -- the fourth-highest total in Major League Soccer -- on their way to winning the Western Conference title by a point over Houston.
The offensive fireworks really came out when RSL showed up last April. Chivas scored a season-high four goals in a 4-0 victory against RSL. Chivas put it away quickly when Maykel Galindo scored his first goal when the match was only 28 seconds old and added another in the ninth minute.
RSL knows keeping its composure against early attacks by Chivas will go a long way to erasing much of the bad luck they've experienced against their expansion brethren at The Home Depot Center.
"We kind of make a couple of mistakes early in the game against Chivas all the time," midfielder Andy Williams said. "Hopefully, we can focus on how we played last season and not make a lot mistakes because it (will) be better off for us."
John Coon is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
