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Goal.commentary: Real Salt Lake Riding Wave Of Confidence
The MLS Cup champs are translating confidence into results.
May 30, 2010 9:16:00 PM
By Jeremy Horton
SANDY, Utah -- It's been an up and down season so far for Real Salt Lake - or, more precisely, a down and up season. At the moment, RSL are the team nobody wants to face: they are currently riding a five-game winning streak (longest in club history) and winning by an average of two goals per game. Needless to say, the defending champs are feeling good about the way things are going.
"I think we're playing with a bit of confidence now," said head coach Jason Kreis. "Even when the soccer's not great, our guys are composed, mature, and believe in each other."
When a team is in history-making form, it's easy to see why the good feelings are there. But believe it or not, Salt Lake have played with that same confidence all season, even when they sat at a less-than-stellar 1-3-1 after five games. The Royal Army's three losses were all away, at three of Major League Soccer's toughest venues for visiting teams: Houston, Los Angeles, and Columbus. Anyone who has followed RSL this year saw that they were indeed a good team in all those matches, and probably deserved at least a point in two of the three. So the confidence has been there all season, even when the results weren't.
"It was real easy to look at us after five games and say, 'Uh-oh, here we go again,'" said Kreis. "But we were thinking all the time, the result's going to come."
And come they have, as a direct result of the newly-found confidence that RSL began building sometime during the 2009 season. But what birthed this confidence? Why the sudden surge of self-belief?
For starters, the players are quick to give credit to the coaching staff and management for improving the depth of the squad. With injuries, national team call-ups, and suspensions being unavoidable realities of life in MLS, every team likes to say they have depth. But at Real Salt Lake, it's more than just talk - the team believe that they can absorb significant personnel losses without a drop in quality.
"I just feel like we're a lot deeper this year than we were last year," said defender Nat Borchers. "We've got guys on the bench who can step in and do very well for us."
According to veteran midfielder Will Johnson, a lot of Salt Lake's confidence has to do with keeping the core elements of the squad together. While many teams spent this last offseason wheeling and dealing, looking for some new stud player, Real spent their winter restructuring contracts, trying to lock up their key pieces for the long term.
"We've been together a long time, and every game you play you get more comfortable with the guy next to you," said Johnson. "We're all on the same page, we have the same goals - I think that's what it really boils down to."
Finally, it goes without saying that winning MLS Cup - and the impressive run through the playoffs to get there - has done wonders for RSL's mentality as well.
"Yeah, [winning MLS Cup] didn't hurt," joked defender Tony Beltran. "That was a huge boost of confidence. It showed we could compete with anyone, and now we believe we belong there [among the league's elite] this year."
Of course, Salt Lake is not going to go undefeated the rest of the year like they did in May; such is the nature of a parity-driven league like MLS. But after seeing the kind of determination, belief, and swagger RSL have shown this first third of the season, fans should expect that this team will be competitive every time they step on the pitch, and that they will once again be in the thick of things at season's end.
For the latest insider info on all things RSL, follow Jeremy on Twitter @RSL_Jeremy
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
"I think we're playing with a bit of confidence now," said head coach Jason Kreis. "Even when the soccer's not great, our guys are composed, mature, and believe in each other."
When a team is in history-making form, it's easy to see why the good feelings are there. But believe it or not, Salt Lake have played with that same confidence all season, even when they sat at a less-than-stellar 1-3-1 after five games. The Royal Army's three losses were all away, at three of Major League Soccer's toughest venues for visiting teams: Houston, Los Angeles, and Columbus. Anyone who has followed RSL this year saw that they were indeed a good team in all those matches, and probably deserved at least a point in two of the three. So the confidence has been there all season, even when the results weren't.
"It was real easy to look at us after five games and say, 'Uh-oh, here we go again,'" said Kreis. "But we were thinking all the time, the result's going to come."
And come they have, as a direct result of the newly-found confidence that RSL began building sometime during the 2009 season. But what birthed this confidence? Why the sudden surge of self-belief?
For starters, the players are quick to give credit to the coaching staff and management for improving the depth of the squad. With injuries, national team call-ups, and suspensions being unavoidable realities of life in MLS, every team likes to say they have depth. But at Real Salt Lake, it's more than just talk - the team believe that they can absorb significant personnel losses without a drop in quality.
"I just feel like we're a lot deeper this year than we were last year," said defender Nat Borchers. "We've got guys on the bench who can step in and do very well for us."
According to veteran midfielder Will Johnson, a lot of Salt Lake's confidence has to do with keeping the core elements of the squad together. While many teams spent this last offseason wheeling and dealing, looking for some new stud player, Real spent their winter restructuring contracts, trying to lock up their key pieces for the long term.
"We've been together a long time, and every game you play you get more comfortable with the guy next to you," said Johnson. "We're all on the same page, we have the same goals - I think that's what it really boils down to."
Finally, it goes without saying that winning MLS Cup - and the impressive run through the playoffs to get there - has done wonders for RSL's mentality as well.
"Yeah, [winning MLS Cup] didn't hurt," joked defender Tony Beltran. "That was a huge boost of confidence. It showed we could compete with anyone, and now we believe we belong there [among the league's elite] this year."
Of course, Salt Lake is not going to go undefeated the rest of the year like they did in May; such is the nature of a parity-driven league like MLS. But after seeing the kind of determination, belief, and swagger RSL have shown this first third of the season, fans should expect that this team will be competitive every time they step on the pitch, and that they will once again be in the thick of things at season's end.
For the latest insider info on all things RSL, follow Jeremy on Twitter @RSL_Jeremy
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page and join Goal.com USA's Facebook fan page!
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