Having already taken the blame for asking his team to play too cautiously in the first half of its loss at Toronto FC last weekend, coach Jason Kreis acknowledged that the mistake might have changed his mind about the value of attempting the strategy with a team seemingly built to attack.

"I think it might," he said. "I think that we have a mind-set that we have a group of players that want to be aggressive and confident. We pulled the reins back on them a little bit and we put them in a spot that they're not as comfortable in, and a way that they probably don't want to play."

Coaches chose the strategy in anticipation of a furious Toronto attack that would exploit RSL if it was too aggressive going the other way. That never really materialized, however, and RSL wound up failing to get off a single shot before halftime while falling behind 1-0 on a free kick that snuck through its defensive wall.

When RSL finally changed tactics after halftime, it dominated the game, but just couldn't find the back of the net - perhaps convincing Kreis to go back to embracing his team's aggressive nature, even on the road, a concept that midfielder Kyle Beckerman enthusiastically endorsed.

"That's a good idea," he said. "You want to try to be that better team in the first part of the game. You want to be the more aggressive, let them make the mistakes and let's put the pressure on and have a brighter start. I think that will help us, in the long run."

Not that Kreis has completely given up on defensive strategy. He said there will be times when RSL needs to tactically sit back, "and we're going to have to be better at it, such that we're not just sitting back and defending. When we win the ball, we have to be better at linking passes and still getting attacks off."

Injury report

Midfielder Nathan Sturgis is expected to be out two to four weeks with the hamstring strain he suffered in the first half at Toronto, and he's not the only one nursing an injury.

Defender Ian Joy has been battling bone spurs in his left ankle - he played 62 minutes against TFC after training little early in the week, a pattern he expects to continue - and striker Fabian Espindola did not train at all last week because of an injured right hamstring. RSL hopes Espindola can train more this week, but Kreis said the Argentine underwent an MRI Tuesday.

Rough start

D.C. United had the best record in Major League Soccer last season, but RSL's next opponent is hardly looking like even a playoff team so far. United is in last place in the MLS Eastern Conference, with just one win - a 4-1 home victory over Toronto that it followed up with that 4-0 blowout loss at RSL and a 2-1 home failure against Columbus last weekend. Defensive lapses and blown scoring opportunities have afflicted the team equally, as has the absence of injured veteran midfielder Ben Olson and a schedule that included five games in 15 days because of the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

mcl@sltrib.com