Write On Sports LLC - "Real Salt Lake in 2006: Fighting to the Ground Floor" by Jeff Bull

Real Salt Lake in 2006: Fighting to the Ground Floor

2006-11-30 22:52:32 | By: Jeff Bull

Real Salt Lake (RSL) started their second season in Major League Soccer (MLS) with the disagreeable reputation as league whipping boys. They wrapped up their inaugural 2005 season with a 5-22-5 record and on a 12-game winless streak. It was, no doubt, very embarrassing stuff. In response, head coach John Ellinger and the RSL front office transformed the team for 2006 by adding battle-tested players from around the league. The changes worked - well, almost.

New Men

Few teams touched RSL in the makeover department; then again, few teams needed to. While they parted with several players - goalkeeper D. J. Countess and defenders Rusty Pierce and Brian Dunseth to name a few - none was as high-profile, or as crucial, as the trade that swapped former U.S. star Clint Mathis for Colorado’s forward Jeff Cunningham. Evidence of RSL’s desperation to ditch Mathis came with their willingness to continue paying a chunk of his salary for the acquiring team; one source pegged that chunk at 3/4 the total. Fortunately, Cunningham more than covered the debt, leading the team and MLS in 2006 with 16 goals and 11 assists.

Key as Cunningham proved to be, several other new faces came up trumps as well. Chris Klein, a prowling right-sided midfielder acquired from Kansas City, provided more firepower. Mehdi Ballouchy, a rookie and a heckuva fun player to watch, commanded RSL’s midfield with poise beyond his years and talent to spare; two other rookies, Willis Forko and Kevin Novak, plugged holes left in defense by injury and World Cup call-ups so capably that they held their places for the rest of the season. Of all the new acquisitions, though, defensive midfielder Carey Talley, who came over from FC Dallas, symbolized what RSL would become in 2006: a team that fought like they meant to win - even when they couldn’t.

The Bad

What is worse than ending a season on a 12-game winless streak? How about continuing that streak six games into the following year? This record of futility - 18 games, which I believe still stands - meant RSL started 2006 inside a hole. The failing that produced this stretch of woe - simple disorganization in defense compounded by sometimes shocking miscues - haunted the team for the rest of the season. RSL would take a lead only to surrender it minutes later, or they’d hold a team scoreless on the road only to surrender a stupid goal just before the final whistle.

Unfortunately, the winless streak that opened RSL’s season wouldn’t be the last. After a mini-streak that ran from mid-May to early June put the team back in the hunt, a second, slightly longer swoon dragged them back to the Western Conference basement by late July. It was here coach Ellinger issued his now-famous “jock strap” comment:

"There's something that goes in a jock strap; I guess you've got to have that in order to play this game."

The Good

Ellinger spat out those words in late July. Two days later, the team accused of being light in the jock strap shocked the league: they snapped DC United’s astounding 13-game unbeaten streak. It’s fair to ask whether DC ever recovered.

Whether it struck the right nerve, RSL pulled a wonderful August from places best not named. One disastrous loss aside - and it was a doozy; a 6-0 defeat away to Red Bull New York - RSL plowed through August and, out of nowhere, they became the team no one wanted to play. And, for the first time in franchise history, post-season play seemed like less of a dream than something for which to prepare.

What changed? A look through the season’s results suggests the change came on offense. Basically, RSL compensated for a defense that rarely managed to keep a clean sheet by scoring just as many, or one goal more, than the opposition. As such, the good for RSL in 2006 came in the form of a fighting mentality, an attitude that never accepted they were beat. It was nothing less than the realization they could play in MLS.

Wrap-Up

RSL’s ability to outscore the opposition deserted them bit by bit after August came to a close. They ended their season with three consecutive ties, the last of which was played under the gloom of having been eliminated from post-season contention the day before. In a sense, this is why Carey Talley serves as such a fitting symbol for this team: what Talley lacks in talent, he makes up for in tenacity; this is enough to take a team to the brink, but it strands them well-shy of what they need to win it all. Still, RSL’s “almost-there” 2006 sets them up for better things in 2007. If nothing else, a better start could be all it takes to get them to their first post-season.

The Future

So far this off-season, talk of the stadium the team is making steady progress toward completing generates most the chatter out of Salt Lake City. From a player personnel position, though, the team seems generally comfortable with where they are. The mid-season acquisition of Jack Stewart from the Chicago Fire, the expected return of defender Daniel Torres from injury, and a full, World-Cup-free year for Costa Rican Douglas Sequeira, all lead to expectations of a stronger, better-organized defense in 2007. And a few more clean sheets could be all it takes. They certainly demonstrated scoring isn’t a problem; the addition of Jafet Soto in midfield certainly won’t hurt.

Unless they utterly fail in 2007, this past season should stand as the one in which RSL dropped the “whipping boy/expansion” tag. It seems almost impossible they won’t come back stronger next season; the year’s experience their back four gained should be enough on its own. Will it be strong enough to contend for MLS Cup? Doubtful. But, as with the second half of 2006, it’s doubtful anyone’s going to want to play them.

Editor's Note: This is part of a series wrapping up the 2006 season for each of Major League Soccer's 12 teams. Readers can find other entries in the series by clicking on the author's byline.

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