What Went Wrong, Playoff Edition: Javier Morales’ Red Card Proved Too Big A Hurdle For Real Salt Lake
What went right: For RSL almost everything had been going right since May, the team was undefeated at home, had only one loss in the last six months and was just three points shy of the Supporters’ Shield. RSL led the league in scoring, defense, clean sheets, goal differential and was poised to make another big run in the playoffs.
What went wrong: Having Javier Morales pick up two silly yellow cards to get sent off in the first leg, which in part led to giving up a late goal in the waning minutes of the away leg put RSL in a 2-1 hole against a team that like them plays very good defense. Then allowing an early goal at home on a counter attack put RSL in a very big hole and despite an impressive offensive attack, the FC Dallas defense (mostly Kevin Hartman) was up to the task and RSL could only manage a single goal when two were needed.
What we learned: The MLS season is very long, adding in the travel and additional matches of the CONCACAF Champions league may have been a bit too much for RSL and any MLS team to handle. Of the three CCL teams (RSL, Seattle and Columbus) that played in the group stage, all lost their first-round series in the MLS Cup playoffs. I also think RSL learned that minor injuries (the groin and knee issues of Alvaro Saborio) may not show up as major factors in practice but can have a big impact on how players perform in matches.
Where we go from here: For RSL the offseason is going to be short as they will enter the knockout stage of the CCL in February, but with the expansion draft, the reallocation drafts, and ongoing negotiations with two of RSL’s forwards (Findley and Saborio) there is a lot going on. I believe the main concern in the off-season will be simply keeping our core players together and maintaining a high level of off season fitness. Next year should be an exciting year for RSL fans.
Core 11: Wow this is a tough one for RSL as there are so many things up in the air, the status of our players who are currently loaned to us (Alvaro Saborio, Paulo Junior, Nelson Gonzalez), the contract status of Robbie Findley and Alex Nimo (who has stated he will retire from soccer unless he is playing for the Portland Timbers). For me the protected 11 list is about more than just protecting your starting 11, it is about trying to protect your most at-risk players, which means you may expose a player with a high salary and hope that teams pass him by, you may expose an older player and hope that the new teams are looking to build a younger team. I really have changed my list 2-3 times a day, based on different scenarios. but here's my best guess: Rimando, Borchers, Beckerman, Olave, Morales, Saborio, Johnson, Findley, Espindola, Paulo Junior, Collen Warner
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