Back to Real-ity

Let me start by saying I felt good about that game. I talked to a lot of people who felt good about that game. The way we've played so far, our defense, RSLs injury and international list, their use of the emergency roster rules, everything seemed to be stacked in our favor.

Once I processed all that, I was really scared. And once RSL scored their first goal, I just felt resigned.

I will say I thought we looked good. Possession was great. Passing was great. But something was missing. Or perhaps someone. I think Roger Espinoza's presence in the midfield was really missed, as was Besler's presence in the back. Real Salt Lake should be credited with doing a very good job of keeping Sporting Kansas City without a shot for the first 42 minutes. Whether or not you want to say they parked the bus (SKC owned 63% of the possession and out passed RSL 447 to 267), their game plan worked as Sporting couldn't find a creative spark even after giving up the first goal.

At any rate, let's take a look at some player ratings.

There. Boom. Benny gets good marks for converting his PK, and I thought when he had the ball he had good vision and made some clever choices, but overall the team needs to get him the ball more, it felt like he drifted in and out of the game somewhat to me. And while Dom Dwyer looks to be playing with a lot of fire, he's going to need service, which a healthy Feilhaber, Zusi, and Davis, should be able to provide in spades.

One last thought, what little I saw of Rubio was impressive. Hopefully as he comes into form he can be another attacking threat as well.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? A home loss stings, but sitting on 9 points after four games isn't all that shabby, and I'm still feeling pretty comfortable a month into the season. Dangerous last words...

Oh. And the sky cam was pretty cool too. I love those kind of tactical overhead long shots.