This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
In March, before the start of the Major League Soccer season that for Real Salt Lake already includes a change in coaches and the trading of the team's leading scorer, midfielder Chris Klein painted a positive picture of the playoffs: they'd be there, along with new attitudes and players such as their first media star, Freddy Adu.
"The expansion mentality is completely gone," said Klein, as RSL prepared for its third season in the league.
Maybe that's not such a good thing.
RSL is regressing.
Through eight games in 2005, the team's first season in MLS, Salt Lake had three wins and 11 points. Through the same eight games in 2006, RSL still had two wins and seven points after an admittedly slow start.
But this season, Real Salt Lake (0-3-5) has yet to taste victory, managing five draws and having scored just seven goals, including only one by Adu. As RSL prepares to play at New England (5-2-2) today, the last of a five consecutive road games, one question must be addressed, and soon:
When is RSL, only two points out of fourth place behind Houston in the Western Division and a playoff slot, going to win? It should have won its opener against Dallas, leading 2-1 going into stoppage time, but allowed a late goal.
Then again, RSL was behind 3-1 in the 90th minute against New York before shocking the Red Bull with two late goals, to tie 3-3.
Soccer is a peculiar game; tying on the road is tantamount to victory. And RSL has managed two draws on its current road string, including a scoreless draw Chicago.
"When you go on the road, at the minimum, you want ties," RSL defender Eddie Pope said. "We've taken some hard knocks, and played well most of those games. We went into Chicago wanting to get a win, and we were able to hold on and get a point out of that. Down the road, I think we'll look back on the ties and be glad we got some points out of these games."
Following RSL's match at New England, the team returns home for an exhibition with China's national team Thursday before returning to MLS play June 14 at home against FC Dallas, the season-opening opponent.
New England and RSL have played four times, and the Revolution lead the series, 2-1-1.
Their last meeting was on July 14, 2006, when Real Salt Lake scored an improbable 3-1 victory in Gillette Stadium. The win came in the middle of a good run for RSL, which finished the season at 10-13-9, three points out of playoff spot. (Colorado finished two points ahead, but owned the tiebreaker.)
"Everybody's feeling like we want a win," said RSL coach Jason Kreis, who took over for John Ellinger the first week of May.
Since retiring as a player and becoming his former team's coach, Kreis traded Jeff Cunningham, MLS's leading scorer in 2006, and released Luis Tejada. He also fired goalkeeping coach Peter Mellor, naming former Dallas coach and friend Jeff Cassar to the coaching staff.
As Kreis continues to rebuild RSL in his image - hard-working and relentless, but controlled - it is no coincidence that he traded for Alecko Eskandarian, acquired for Cunningham.
Can Eskandarian spark an offense that has averaged less than a goal a game?
"We're at the point where we're taking it one game at a time," Klein said recently.
That is a far cry from RSL's preseason expectations, when Klein relayed a message passed on from owner Dave Checketts:
"He literally demanded the team makes the playoffs. The team is ready to handle those expectations. We've had our free passes."
RSL at New England
TODAY, 5:30 p.m.