This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Sandy • News, news, more news. Not strictly related to Real Salt Lake, but news aplenty across Major League Soccer this week.
The knockout-round matches took somewhat of a backseat to this week's massive newsiness levied Monday and Tuesday and so on as the week wore. On Monday, what was expected since the initial reporting by SI.com reporter Brian Straus was made official: Chivas USA was disbanded, dissolved and is no longer part of Major League Soccer effective immediately. The 2005 MLS expansion side — which entered play the same year as RSL — ceased operation after 10 years was replaced as Los Angeles Football Club was announced Thursday as the new SoCal-based franchise that will begin playing 2017.
It set off a chain reaction, one that will certainly affect the landscape of MLS — and more specifically, the already-cluttered Western Conference. Houston Dynamo and Sporting Kansas City will move over to the West in 2015 with the news of Chivas' demise and the implementation of two new expansion sides in the East: Jason Kreis' New York City FC and Orlando City Soccer Club.
"It certainly makes the West stronger than it already is," RSL midfielder Ned Grabavoy said. "You're bringing one of the best teams in the East in Kansas City and a team like Houston, that's usually right around the mix as well, so you're basically replacing Chivas with Houston and Kansas City."
News continued into Tuesday, where Seattle announced a multi-year extension for MVP candidate Obafemi Martins, Portland announced a diagnosed ACL tear for star Diego Valeri and Orlando City made its second splash — since signing Kakà — in trading for Houston goalkeeper Tally Hall. On Wednesday, Steve Zakuani announced he's retiring from soccer at 26, signaling the end to a once-promising future face of the league.
• Martins' extension makes sense. The 30-year-old has 17 goals and 13 assists in 2014 and without him, Sounders don't win their first Supporters' Shield.
• Valeri's injury is disheartening. The 28-year-old Argentine was sensational this year with 11 goals and 14 assists and suddenly Portland's 2015 campaign is in question as its two best players in Valeri and former RSL man Will Johnson suffered serious season-ending injuries in the final month of the season.
• Hall to Orlando shouldn't be surprising. The 29-year-old tore his ACL in early September and according to Paul Tenorio of The Orlando Sentinel, the deal was made between the two clubs prior to Hall being injured. The deal, while smart for Orlando to get started on assembling its defense, should not keep the Lions out of conversation for picking up another goalkeeper in the MLS expansion draft on Dec. 10. RSL fans have floated the possibility that, if not protected, South Florida native Jeff Attinella could be that guy.
• Zakuani, the former No. 1 overall pick by Seattle, played five years in MLS after the Sounders drafted him first in their inaugural draft upon inclusion in the league. But his career arc massively changed in April 2011 when Zakuani suffered a gruesome leg fracture after Brian Mullan tackled him.
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Tactic things • I don't know anything about tactics. But I ask because fans like to understand approach and shape and all that jazz. Throughout this week, I asked RSL players and coaches about how the L.A. Galaxy should or could pose problems in this two-leg series.
Javier Morales: "It's different, you can look different ways, because they have two deep mids like Juninho and [Marcelo] Sarvas that are pretty good hard workers, but then they have Landon or whoever in the side, they can work pretty hard, so we have to take advantage of that space in the wide sides and be smart."
Asked Jeff Cassar how L.A. looks different when it often adopts a diamond formation as opposed to the flat 4-4-2 its accustomed to using.
Cassar: "We feel like if someone tries to play the diamond, it's an easy one, we just need to do it better. Preparation isn't too hard. I think the flat 4-4-2 is where they go, it seems to get their players that they want on the field all in the right spots and they've been successful. There's actually more space for Keane to maybe operate in there when they don't have a No. 10 in there."
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RSL vs. LD • Storybook endings often play out the way they ought to: Will Landon Donovans? Not if RSL has any say in the matter. The 32-year-old star who will forever be the initial face of American soccer is set to retire after this season. He has 10 goals and 19 assists in 2014. He's both MLS' all-time leading scorer with 144 goals and the U.S. men's national team leading goal-scorer with 57 career international goals.
"I'll shake his hand and go out there and try to shut him down," defender Tony Beltran said.
"We're going to go after it, we're going to try and win," captain Kyle Beckerman said. "We don't care that he's retiring. He's been a great ambassador for soccer in this country, but come game time, we're going to try and beat him."
In his 10-year career against RSL, Donovan is 11-8-6 with the L.A. Galaxy and has scored 10 goals and 10 assists.
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313 minutes and counting• Three straight shutouts entering the MLS postseason provides that word overused in sports: Momentum. But there's no denying the positive impact three consecutive lockdown performances have been. None was more impressive than RSL's 0-0 draw at Portland — ultimately a game that kept the Timbers out of the postseason — and looking forward, RSL has its work cut out against an L.A. Galaxy team that has scored 69 goals in 34 matches.
"The big thing defensively, we've got a lot of talented defenders and a lot of talented players in front of us who are committed to defend and when we're all on the same page, working so hard, doing the little things right, then that's the difference and it's often the difference in the playoffs," Tony Beltran said. "One guy, one team makes one mental mistake and the other team is going to capitalize on it and you go home."
MLS' all-time shutout king, Nick Rimando, said things can be sharpened up and improved upon still, especially on the road.
"They're a scary team," Rimando said of L.A. "They're a good, dynamic team that scores goals from every angle. Every week you're going to see a Goal of the Week candidate from L.A. They're doing some stuff right over there, but so are we."
Morales said the implementation of the away-goal rule changes everything in terms of how clubs approach a series.
"I think it's a big change for me," he said. "We have to be smart, try to keep the shape and work. We can go crazy because even if we win here 3-2 and then it's going to be tough to go there and score and win by two. We have to be smart and try to win the game but be smart."
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Rotation? Rust?• Competition for starting spots carried through this week as Cassar noted that while his team hasn't played a game since Oct. 22, ensuring rust doesn't show itself in Leg 1 vs. L.A. is paramount.
""We haven't talked about it," Cassar said of a nailed-down rotation, "but I think this group knows their roles now and obviously we need everybody on the same page, whether it's through injuries or anything. I'm pretty confident in what my lineup's going to be, but it's still open competition. Having rust, if you're not competing, you're rusty. The competition is always open, but you do have to have your lineup heading into the playoffs."
"If you rested and you're happy with where you're at, but you guys watched all today's training session, tried to set up a lot of competition for these guys to get going," he continued. "We have a great plan for this week and I think we'll be flying come Saturday."
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Quotableness and no predictions • Cassar on how a club slows down MVP candidate Robbie Keane: "You drug him, you pull the fire alarms, all that good stuff."
I don't have a prediction, because I rarely — if ever — know what I'm talking about. I do think a major key to this first leg is Schuler and his effectiveness playing with a face guard and missing three weeks of game action. Also interested to see how the Saborio-Plata tandem approaches this L.A. backbone that conceded a league-low 37 goals.
Nevermind — here's a prediction: It's going to be as 40-something degrees, with probably rain and maybe sleet and howling winds that will soak us all. Happy November. We survived the season, and now it's time to bundle up.
Winter is coming.
-Chris Kamrani
Twitter: @chriskamrani