photo by Tai Gray

• by Allison Norris, writing from Salt Lake City, Utah

When you sit in the stands at a Real Salt Lake game, you are going to hear a lot of comments about the team. Most of these comments come from folks who watch the Utah Jazz all the time and try to apply the same rules or concepts to the game of soccer. In basketball, wins can come easier. There are times when teams go through losing streaks, but it’s not for lack of making baskets. After all, no basketball team ever walks away from a game without taking a single shot. Soccer is not this way. For those of us who know the game of soccer, we understand it is about the journey a team takes rather than the results of every match. This is what makes us want to turn around and sock that basketball fan straight in the nose.

A few months ago, Real Salt Lake lost at home after a record breaking streak of unbeaten home matches. For reporters across the state this was a devastation beyond belief. To the team, it was just another loss. At the end of July, RSL suffered two losses in a row—one at home and one away. For all the fair-weather, normally-basketball-supporting fans this was the end of the world. Even RSL coach Jason Kreis reportedly said things could turn “monstrously bad” for the team if this trend continued (a statement he later revoked).

Looking at the small picture, it was easy to say RSL was in a very bad place and the franchise was going down the drain even as we watched. Three days later RSL played the New York Red Bulls, arguably one of the more favored teams in the league, in a win that made the other bad matches this season seem like they didn’t exist.

Fair-weather fans have short-term memories. They forgot that earlier this season RSL gave their blood, sweat and tears to reach the final match of the CONCACAF Champions League against one of Mexico’s best teams, Monterrey. This was a feat no other MLS team had accomplished. Ever. RSL was at their prime and it was only April. The final, of course, did not end happily. RSL faced a disappointment no other team in the league could ever know. Fans who stuck around for the trophy presentation can remember how cold the strains of “We Are the Champions” felt and how the confetti falling from the sky could have easily been fire, brimstone and ash.

With little time to recover from that humiliation, on May 7 Real Salt Lake lost the star of their team – the life-blood of their formation – Javier Morales, to a horrific tackle by Chivas USA’s Marcos Mondaini. His ankle was broken and would be out until October at the earliest. Real Salt Lake had to do emergency restructuring of the program they had perfected during their pre-season and CONCACAF run.

RSL prepared for a long season but did well to take it one game at a time. After every match, no matter the result, the message of the team was “on to the next.” For the first few weeks after the loss of Morales, the coaches experimented with a number of different players, formations and strategies to fill the void. Players who had been unused earlier in the season were suddenly at the forefront. Ned Grabavoy became a regular in mid-field. In June, when many players left to participate in Gold Cup Jean Alexander stepped in to play forward. When Olave was unavailable, Chris Schuler stepped in to central defense. It was impossible to predict who was going to be starting because of the experimentation that was needed.

The differences from game to game were inconsistent. For some reason, people think RSL has been a consistent team in the past. This is far from true. Though it could be argued inconsistency is one of Real Salt Lake’s strengths.

It is now late in the season and with two lack-luster losses and one dramatic win in their last three games, it is impossible to predict what will come of Real Salt Lake in the coming months. Injuries have been rampant, but despite this Coach Kreis knows he has guys on the bench who can step in and do the work where they are needed. If nothing else, the adversity Real Salt Lake has faced over the 2011 season so far has made the team members stronger and more versatile. Prior to the match against New York, Jason Kreis told news reporters, “I’m a believer that difficult times make stronger men.” A 3-0 win and solid performance against the Red Bulls reinforced his claim

If Real Salt Lake survives to the end of this season it will have everything to do with the team’s philosophy of working together and nothing to do with the problems they have faced. The devastation of losing one of the most important matches of their careers and the agony of losing Morales will be behind them. They will have learned from the past rather than let it dictate their season.

Some RSL loyals believe there is an MLS conspiracy to keep Real Salt Lake from reaching its full potential as becoming the prime example of soccer in the United States. But as in all good stories, the hero must face adversity on all sides and receive a trial by fire. Real Salt Lake has faced all this and then some in just a few short months. The ending to their story will be entirely up to them.

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