Real Salt Lake might be the most surprising MLS Cup winner in the MLS’ short history. They finished 8th overall last season, just making the playoffs on goal difference. In the first round, they beat the best overall team, the Columbus Crew. In their next round, the second place team in the Eastern Conference were beaten. Finally, they beat the heavily fancied Los Angeles Galaxy on penalties (Landon Donovan missed a penalty) to become champions.
This season, they have become better. After beating the East’s first place Columbus, Real Salt Lake lie second in the Western Conference and second overall, behind the Galaxy by 4 points. They’ve conceded the second least amount of goals, and have scored the most, lead by their talisman, Javier Morales. Real play a diamond 4-4-2, mainly because they do not have a couple of wingers, but they do have a solid defensive midfielder in Kyle Beckerman and the playmaker in Javier Morales. Up front, Robbie Findley offers pace, while Alvaro Saborio and Fabian Espndola have scored the most of the goals, along with Morales and Findley.
Real Salt Lake, as you might have noticed, have no Designated Players and have noone paid over $250,000. They have a new stadium which is on average about 82% full. If you want a model for how to run a club on a budget and win, look at Real Salt Lake.
Meanwhile…While I was out
In the week or so I was gone, a few things happened in the MLS. New York got their first win with Thierry Henry in the midweek, beating Toronto 1-0 after Joel Lindpere scored from a wonderful clipped ball from Seth Stamler. New York then lost their high profile fixture against the LA Galaxy 1-0, at home. New York did create some chances, with Juan Pablo Angel hitting the bar, but Los Angeles deserved to win, with a good defensive performance, and was unlucky not to get a second.
FC Dallas continued their quiet playoff run, beating the abject DC United 3-1. With a 1-0 win over Kansas City, San Jose climbed into the last playoff spot, while New England, with a 1-0 win over Houston, moved to within 5 points of the playoffs, but then lost away to Chicago 2-1, with Chicago moving to just 3 points behind a playoff spot.
Meanwhile, I made a few enquiries into some MLS rules. First of all, as reader Jose pointed out, there are territorial rights that would prevent a second team in New York. Second of all, clubs that lose players overseas receive allocation money. Allocation money is received for being bad or for selling players, and can be used to make a team’s salary cap bigger or to pay above the salary maximum. I will try and find out more about contracts, and hope to report that information in the coming weeks.
Standings
Western Conference
| RK | Club | PTS | GP | GS | GA | GD |
| 1 | Los Angeles Galaxy | 43 | 20 | 32 | 13 | 19 |
| 2 | Real Salt Lake | 39 | 21 | 36 | 16 | 20 |
| 3 | FC Dallas | 33 | 19 | 27 | 17 | 10 |
| 4 | Seattle Sounders FC | 29 | 21 | 23 | 25 | -2 |
| 5 | Colorado Rapids | 28 | 19 | 21 | 18 | 3 |
| 6 | San Jose Earthquakes | 26 | 18 | 21 | 20 | 1 |
| 7 | Houston Dynamo | 20 | 20 | 23 | 30 | -7 |
| 8 | Chivas USA | 19 | 19 | 22 | 25 | -3 |
Standings
Eastern Conference
| RK | Club | PTS | GP | GS | GA | GD |
| 1 | Columbus Crew | 37 | 20 | 28 | 19 | 9 |
| 2 | New York Red Bulls | 30 | 19 | 21 | 22 | -1 |
| 3 | Toronto FC | 26 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 0 |
| 4 | Chicago Fire | 23 | 16 | 23 | 22 | 1 |
| 5 | New England Revolution | 21 | 19 | 19 | 29 | -10 |
| 6 | Kansas City | 20 | 19 | 15 | 22 | -7 |
| 7 | Philidelphia Union | 17 | 19 | 23 | 34 | -11 |
| 8 | D.C. United | 12 | 20 | 13 | 35 | -22 |
Good to see a new article on the site again, and very interesting to read about Salt Lake (my main reference point to the club up until now is that I can recall that when, a few years back, they signed a certain Freddy Adu, at least one major website reported the news with the ever-so-slightly-misleading headline “Adu signs for Real”).
It’s fascinating to study the squad of the Red Bulls: on the one hand, they have former Champions League winners like Henry and Rafa Marquez, on the other players like Lindpere and Roy Miller, who looked average even in Norwegian football: I can’t help but think this must mean there’s an enormous disparity in quality, not only between teams, but within them as well.
Comments?
Interesting comment Mole, I watched the last 20 minutes of the Red Bulls/Galaxy game and the body language and facial expressions of Henry did not look very positive to me. A bit like the way he used to look at Reyes a few years ago. I can’t see this lasting unless Henry just relies on Marquez or he resigns himself to the fact that he is playing with players of a lower quality and actually try’s to help them!
I also watched the Man Utd vs Major League all stars and was quite impressed with the quality of players in the league (even if the majority were foreign.)
Yeah, Henry hasn’t been the happiest at New York. I think once he starts scoring and they start winning he’ll be happier. They’re winning 2-1 at the moment
Hey guys, it’s me from The Future is Strikerless. First off I want to say thanks for the comments and suggestions, it is really appreciated!
Anyway I came here because Salt Lake play Toronto FC today. I was wondering if any of you guys were gonna be able to catch it? TFC really need a win to stay in the playoff race and they might get a break, RSL had a tough match against Cruz Azul recently so they might be resting some guys. I was hoping to review the match but I might be only able to catch part of it. Regardless I will be covering the MLS in my blog. I’m really glad to see you guys with an interest in the league. Of all the blogs and sites that are out there I really don’t see much quality in the analysis of the teams or games. As a TFC fan I cringe at the analysis fans provide in forums and blogs, I’m hoping you guys will do a few more MLS articles so I can have a good dialogue about the league.
Dominic,
I did start to watch it on a stream (wasn’t covered on national television and I don’t have enough to pay for the package where I can watch everything) when my stream died about 10 minutes in. I’m hoping to find someone who has the game on a DVD because I did want to report on it.
Hey Dominic, no problem!
LArsenal23 is our main writer on the MLS but unfortunately I don’t know whether he will be watching this game or not. I’ll pass on your comments and I’m sure he’ll be writing more on the MLS over the coming months.
Well I just put up my review, the game wasn’t that exciting from a footballing or tactical stand point. I guess the thing I took away from it, as a TFC supporter, is just how much more skilled RSL are than us.