Kyle Beckerman was immense in both matches -- he certainly played a huge role in getting Real two badly needed victories, especially after starting the week with a 3-1 loss at New England.
Campos' current form is in stark contrast to his up-and-down displays in San Jose, making it a wonder that any team was interested in the former Fresno Fuego striker. According to Campos, his inconsistent play led San Jose head coach Frank Yallop to discuss buying out the remainder of his contract earlier in the year, but a goal and an assist against the Los Angeles Galaxy on June 20 gave Campos what he thought was a reprieve.
"After the L.A. game, Frank said, 'No more buyouts for Pablo.' So I went, 'OK, that's good,'" said Campos. "I think three weeks later, he traded me. I wasn't expecting it at all. It was a real surprise when he told me I was traded to Salt Lake."
The deal was consummated in part because RSL head coach Jason Kreis had been an admirer of Campos since his days at Fresno Pacific University, and thought he could give his struggling side something different.
"[Campos] has such great size, he can be such a great back-to-the-goal type player," said Kreis. "But he's also dynamic. He can turn and run at players and make things happen that way as well."
But the settling-in process didn't happen all at once for Campos. Not only were there new teammates to get used to, but the altitude took its toll as well, especially for a player who wasn't 100 percent match-fit.
"I had nose bleeds, and I couldn't run. I was struggling a lot," said Campos. "But I think after a month, I started playing my real soccer and I was more confident and more comfortable with the situation.
"And Jason [Kreis], he loves the Latin guys. There are three Argentineans and a lot of international guys here, and they understand my way of playing."
That was evident last Saturday against Kansas City. Andy Williams, deputizing for the injured Javier Morales, looked for all the world as if he were going to feed an overlapping Robbie Russell. But quick peek in the direction of Campos let him know the ball was coming, and he duly slotted the Jamaican's feed past Kevin Hartman for the game's only goal.
"If [Williams] looks at me, the defender is going to come over and mark me," said Campos. "But he just glanced at me and gave me the pass. He did all the work."
That quality of service explains in part why Campos has looked much more comfortable on the field than he ever did for the Quakes. And this is borne out by the fact that with RSL, he has equaled his output in San Jose in about one-third the time.
But more important is what Campos' performances have meant for the team. Prior to last week, Real were in danger of slipping out of the playoff race altogether, but their two victories saw RSL vault back into the picture, level on points with Colorado and Chivas USA, and just a point behind Seattle.
"The performances last week were very good, especially after the way we started the week against New England, where we played poorly," said Kreis. "It would have been easy to fold up shop and feel sorry for ourselves, and let it go downhill. We got it right, and had we not gotten points, logically it might have been over. It was huge for us."
The same can be said for Campos, and with any luck, his exploits might prove him to be as good a prognosticator as he is a goalscorer.
Trader's remorse: When Campos garnered the Player of the Week award, it added up to another "Doh!" moment for the San Jose Earthquakes, who have made a habit of seeing players they trade away thrive in other environments. But fear not Quakes fans, Campos is by no means the first traded player to nab the league's weekly accolade, nor does he rank first among discarded players who have made an impact.
Besides Campos, five players have won the Player of the Week after being traded in midseason. Among those who proved their former employers wrong were Raul Diaz Arce (who won the award in 1999 with Tampa Bay after moving from San Jose), Mark Chung (a winner with San Jose in 2005 after being traded from Colorado), and Cornell Glen (who made Steve Sampson look a genius -- briefly -- with Los Angeles in 2006 after moving from Colorado).
Then there is the story of Chris Brown, who in his first start for New England on Aug. 30, 2003 -- just 10 days after being traded from Kansas City -- lit up the Chicago Fire for a hat trick in a 5-1 win. Unfortunately for Brown, he endured a season-ending injury less than a month later, although it no doubt eased the pain of Wizards fans.
But among those players who earned Player of the Week honors after being dealt, the biggest impact was made by Clint Mathis, who upon being traded from Los Angeles to the MetroStars enjoyed a dream 2000 season. Not only did he score 13 goals for his new club, but he earned the league's weekly prize twice in succession.
Landin on his feet: There's still plenty of rust showing, and he's probably still getting the names of his teammates straight, but one only had to watch the last 31 minutes of Houston's 1-0 loss to Colorado on Sunday to see that Luis Angel Landin will do plenty to help the Dynamo's suddenly feeble attack.
Up until his insertion into the match, Houston had struggled mightily to gain any kind of rhythm in attack, a trend exacerbated by the inability of Kei Kamara and Brian Ching to hold the ball up or link with their teammates. But once Landin took the field, the tempo and precision of Houston's offense improved markedly. Landin appears to have settled into the Dynamo locker room as well.
"He's got a smile on his face," Houston manager Dominic Kinnear said of Landin. "Once he learns how to cope with the heat, and he gets 90 minutes fit, he should do well for us."
Given that the Dynamo has two weeks off until their next match, that aim should be well within reach.
E-Rob's return: Despite the aforementioned break, the Dynamo's schedule remains laden with Champions League and MLS matches and for that reason Houston could use some fresh legs in other parts of the field as well. And they might get it in the form of defender Eddie Robinson. The one-time Best XI performer has missed the entire season due to micro-fracture surgery on his left knee. But Kinnear indicated that Robinson will likely rejoin his teammates for full training within the next week.
Jeff Carlisle is a regular contributor to ESPN Soccernet, and covers the San Jose Earthquakes for Center Line Soccer and MLSnet.com. Jeff can be reached at eljefe1@yahoo.com. Views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
