After a long offseason, the 2006 Major League Soccer season is finally upon us. That's right, this weekend, Real Salt Lake - the new RSL - is actually going to play its first game of the season. As we all know, the inaugural year was filled with much excitement and fanfare, with the rapidly changing and greatly misunderstood city of Salt Lake routinely being identified as one of the best places for soccer fans to watch an MLS game. The RSL supporters are avid and loud, and truly believe that the team is theirs. Regretfully though, the season did not have as many wins as anyone would have liked.
Fast forward four months, and the team has a drastically new feel. Head coach John Ellinger evaluated his team at the end of last season and quickly decided that major changes were needed, recognizing that RSL absolutely had to improve the areas of experience, speed, leadership and quality. To his credit, RSL went out and got most everything he wanted.
First and foremost, the team needed experience. With what was available last year, as an expansion team, Real Salt Lake was just too young in too many places. Losing captain and top scorer Jason Kreis during the season created an even deeper void of leadership and experience. When you add the MLS Cup appearances, esteemed travels and international exposure that guys like Scott Garlick, Carey Talley, Chris Klein, Jeff Cunningham and Douglas Sequeira have in their mental and technical past, experience is now the least of Ellinger's worries.
In Garlick, the team now has an experienced goalkeeper who has been successful at every level. His communication to the defense with regards to positioning and ability to organize the people in front of him make him an extremely important acquisition. Garlick is a natural leader, who brings a very calming, yet demanding demeanor, to every training session, every drill and most importantly, every game.
In veteran utility man Carey Talley, RSL has the type of player that every team needs: an honest worker who will give his best every day. A solid player who can play a number of positions, and is willing to do what is best for the team; the type of player that only coaches and teammates truly appreciate.
Chris Klein has to rank among the best wide players in MLS history. A very, very creative and accurate crosser of the ball, Klein is also a legitimate scoring threat. His timing of when and how to get behind defenders is something that has spelled trouble for many teams over the years.
Jeff Cunningham is simply one of the most skillful players to ever play in our league. Cunningham's ability with the ball is going to make him one of the most entertaining players to watch this year. And on top of that, he scores goals. The potential combination of Cunningham and Kreis, with a combined total of 174 goals, has this team excited, and should have all of Salt Lake City elated. Throw an explosive offensive-minded guy like Andy Williams in the mix, and the nets at Rice-Eccles should be burning brightly.
While Douglas Sequeira enters only his second season of MLS play, he boasts a great deal of experience, period. Douglas - is that what he will wear on his jersey? - has been an instrumental part of Costa Rican soccer for many years, and the 27-year-old comes off a campaign where he was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dismal year for Chivas USA. A hard player who reads the game well, Sequeira will look to anchor the midfield and allow the attacking players to go forward and be dangerous. How RSL copes with the loss of Sequeira and U.S. icon Eddie Pope during the World Cup could dictate the level of success in 2006.
Another player to watch will be the rookie out of Santa Clara, Mehdi Bellouchy. The midfielder came highly touted, and through the preseason, has lived up to expectations, tantalizingly rising to the MLS challenge. Ellinger and RSL will ask a lot of this young player, and the word out there is that he will deliver. He even chose to wear the No. 10 jersey when the veterans passed on the opportunity.
So, while adding experience, Coach Ellinger has also added a great deal of quality to his team. Adding up the core of returning players, including Pope, Kreis and last year's team MVP Williams, with the new faces and veteran experiences, confidence is at an all-time high.
So tune in Sunday night on KSL or on the Direct Kick package to see how RSL stacks up against rival Chivas USA, another second-year team which overhauled their roster and expects to be drastically better this year.
I'll be back next Tuesday on RealSaltLake.com with more thoughts.
Robin Fraser, a five-time MLS Best XI selection and two-time MLS Defender of the Year, ended his 10-year MLS career and 16-year professional career last October, and now begins his first season with RSL as the team's color television analyst. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Fraser amassed 27 caps for the U.S. National Team and was drafted fourth overall by the Los Angeles Galaxy in the inaugural MLS draft.
Comments? E-mail Robin and the entire RSL broadcast crew at fun@RealSaltLake.com, and your e-mail could be featured in the Computech "Fan Feedback" feature on all RSL on KSL and FSN Utah broadcasts, as well as on KALL 700 AM.
