Getting beat is one thing, and it’s something Real Salt Lake fans have grown accustomed to over the years, but to get beaten by players you let go just two games into a new season is downright painful.
When Alecko Eskandarian and Atiba Harris scored goals for Real Salt Lake you just knew RSL fans were snickering in their Utah homes at players who couldn’t score for them could score against them.
SBI Correspondent Scott McAllister is among the cynical Real Salt Lake fans who isn’t sure things will change for the club in 2008. Here is his take on the club’s recent loss to Chivas USA (Share your thoughts on Scott’s piece in the comments section below):
Unfortunately for RSL fans, it’s more of the same
By Scott McAllister
There is no mistaking it. In the standings, and on the score sheet, Real Salt Lake looks to be continuing it’s grand tradition of mediocrity that has labeled this team since it’s inception in 2005.
As the years pass and the results fall where they may, two camps have emerged among the RSL supporters. There are the extraordinarily optimistic, and those that will call for mass changes – such as the sacking of the coach – once things don’t go precisely as planned.
In years past I have been parked firmly in the optimistic camp, and although I feel that my position hasn’t changed it has become increasingly more cynical.
Although this season contains a striking resemblance to that of 2007, especially the whole drawing the home opener on a last second goal sort of thing, anyone who has seen this year’s Salt Lake play can attest that there is something different about this team this time around.
The 2007 side was like a kid on a bicycle. He couldn’t believe he was starting off so well. It seemed too good to true until Carlos Ruiz and FC Dallas put the stick in his spokes during injury time of that first game, sending RSL down hard never to quite recover.
This year, Real Salt Lake could be compared to a quality cyclist who has hit a couple rough patches on the course, but who has kept his focus on the finish line and rushed to get back into the race. And there is still a lot of race left.
Gauging the outcome of the entire season on how the boys in Red and Blue perform against Chivas at the Home Depot Center would be short sided. Salt Lake has never beaten the Goats at the HDC, in fact Kenny Deuchar’s header in the 57th minute on Saturday was the first time they’ve even scored at the Goat Pen since October of 2006.
Looking ahead to this Saturday, a midweek bout with Mexican club Pachuca in the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup could tire DC United for their trip to Salt Lake this weekend. It will be a great test to see if Real Salt Lake can get back in the saddle and make some progress in the tables; although the cynic in me says that a good night would be if RSL could finish a few chances and do anything but lose. Here’s to hoping the cynic in me is wrong.