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#281496 - 05/27/12 03:54 PM
Re: Stars US Open Cup 2012
[Re: Soccer Boy]
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Novice
Registered: 10/31/11
Posts: 31
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Looking forward to Tuesday against Real Salt Lake, I realized I know very little about them. So, I poked around the RSL website and found out that they're currently plagued by injuries and short-handed due to international duty. RSL have plenty of injury concerns despite two-week breakMost teams would be able to count on a two-week break as a period for recuperation in an otherwise hectic MLS season. Yet despite a 14-day respite from action, Real Salt Lake suddenly find themselves dealing with a rash of injuries. Perhaps most serious is the situation at outside back, where the squad was already lean on experienced players. “We went from incredibly healthy to being incredibly injured within a week to 10 days,” RSL head coach Jason Kreis told ESPN700 Sports Radio in Salt Lake City on Thursday. Coach Jason Kreis and RSL ownership appear to be taking the match quite seriously, perhaps due to the pain of losing in previous Open Cup runs. RSL GM: USOC deal with Stars FC "purely competitive"Real Salt Lake are serious about winning the 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. So it should come as no surprise that they went the extra mile to make sure that their third-round knockout match against the Minnesota Stars was played in the friendly confines of Rio Tinto Stadium next Tuesday. It was a match that was initially scheduled to be played in Minnesota after a draw conducted by the US Soccer Federation. However, RSL was able to cut a deal with the lower division team to change the site for the single-elimination encounter. “Our ownership stepped up again, and through the hard work of Bill Manning we were able to get a deal negotiated to host an Open Cup game,” RSL GM Garth Lagerwey told MLSsoccer.com. “I think that shows our commitment to winning. We literally did whatever it took to give our team the best chance to win just a first round game.” MLS Post-game Quote Sheet - Real Salt Lake 3 : 2 FC DallasOn Tuesday’s Open Cup Match:“With this break that we have, we need games, so it’s an opportunity for us to win this first round and get ourselves another game. I’m going to put out the best lineup that we have possible, which some teams wouldn’t do, but I think is very important. We need to try and succeed in this tournament, because we haven’t before.” After reading that, I decided to dig a bit further and see if I could predict an approximation of the lineup the Stars will be facing on Tuesday. So, I pulled up the roster and compared to the articles. It looks like they will be missing at least 7 of their 26 man roster due to lineups or international callups. Roster:http://www.realsaltlake.com/players Unavailable for 05/29 US Open Cup match:GK Nick Rimando (USA International)
D Chris Schuler (Injured)
D Chris Wingert (Tentative - injury)
M Kyle Beckerman (USA International)
M Javier Morales (Injured)
M Will Johnson (CANADA International)
F Álvaro Saborío (COSTA RICA International) What do you all think about this match-up? Any predictions? (By the way, their roster includes Twitter links for many of the players. Just sayin'.)
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#281497 - 05/27/12 04:05 PM
Re: Stars US Open Cup 2012
[Re: Soccer Boy]
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Novice
Registered: 10/31/11
Posts: 31
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Following up on the previous post, I looked through previous RSL lineups and their lineup against FC Dallas last night. I managed to put together a lineup that seems somewhat reasonable based on what I've read. I'm not sure they have too many variations available at some of these positions. RSL seems to play a 4-4-2 pretty religiously. There are a few positions - particularly the midfield - where I'm not sure about injuries. Also, it seems as if Sebastien Velasquez may have come in as a Forward last night, so I've got him out of position. I can't track down what's going on with Paulo Jr, so he's another option up front. I never do this type of research about opposing teams, so I am a complete novice. Please set me straight if you have any thoughts. Regardless, it was a fun exercise on a Sunday afternoon. GOALKEEPER24: Kyle Reynish (28, 6'3", 193, USA) DEFENSE2: Tony Beltran (24, 5'8", 150, USA) 6: Nat Borchers (31, 6'2", 175, USA) 4: Jamison Olave (31, 6'3", 210, Colombia) 53: Terukazu Tanaka (26, 5'8", 150, Japan) MIDFIELD14: Yordany Alvarez (27, 5'10", 165, Cuba) 21: Luis Gil (18, 5'8", 155, USA) 20: Ned Grabavoy (28, 5'7", 160, USA) 22: Jonny Steele (26, 6', 180, Northern Ireland) FORWARD7: Fabian Espíndola (27, 5'9", 160, Argentina) 26: Sebastian Velasquez (21, 5'11", 155, Colombia) 
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#281499 - 05/27/12 07:07 PM
Re: Stars US Open Cup 2012
[Re: Future Unwritten]
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First Team Member
Registered: 04/22/10
Posts: 718
Loc: mpls
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Awesome post.
_________________________
*Nothing like barfing tacos and Bender in a dorm shower on a Sunday after a Stars victory. -Hairygrump
*Make sure the lids of the paint pots are securely fastened before drifting around corners looking cool. -Ayeready
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#281502 - 05/27/12 08:50 PM
Re: Stars US Open Cup 2012
[Re: c0ldfuse]
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Hall Of Famer
Registered: 06/28/07
Posts: 4767
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I would agree, lots of good info in there. Thanks
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#281503 - 05/27/12 09:48 PM
Re: Stars US Open Cup 2012
[Re: jw7]
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First Team Member
Registered: 05/30/08
Posts: 573
Loc: Minnesota
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yup - nice work
_________________________
The ball is round, the game is 90 minutes, everything else is just theory.
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#281508 - 05/28/12 01:17 PM
Re: Stars US Open Cup 2012
[Re: seamonster]
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Hall Of Famer
Registered: 04/21/10
Posts: 3071
Loc: Negril, Jamaica
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I see the Red Bulls are streaming the USOC match tomorrow starting at 6:30pm. Great pics on Twitter from the lads out in Salt Lake.
_________________________
--Soccer Boy
#TakeBackTheCup
"...at the end of the day..."
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#281509 - 05/28/12 03:06 PM
Re: Stars US Open Cup 2012
[Re: Soccer Boy]
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Novice
Registered: 10/31/11
Posts: 31
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Ah, thanks for the nice feedback. I guess we don't have to wait much longer to see how this comes together. I predict the Sweetwater will be packed tomorrow.
@jimcrist: I am pretty sure I saw somewhere that Jason Kreis said Luis Gil will be available for Tuesday before he leaves, so that's why I put him in.
Other things I learned through idle reading:
Reading some commentary from the RSL fans on Big Soccer, they seem to be quite concerned about Tony Beltran being beat by speedy Dallas guys repeatedly. Someone blamed it on Dallas doubling up on him. He also seems to have a tendency to try to pass out of the back rather than clear, and pressure from Dallas was causing him to get into sticky situations. Maybe the Stars will find a way to pressure him or exploit his side.
Teruzu Tanaka is a source of concern for some of their fans too, as he has only played a couple games. (Awesome side note about Tanaka: he often rides a bmx bike to the stadium for practice, taking it onto mass transit with him for part of the trip.)
Their goalkeeper Kyle Reynish was shaky, but I think that has been discussed at length. Fire away?
Paulo Jr apparently had a dental infection of some sort but may be back as soon as tomorrow. He was listed as 50/50 for Saturday.
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