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Archive for category Preseason

Charleston Camp Updates: March 9, 2010

Mar 9

Posted by kirsoccer in Preseason | 10 Comments

I received some observations from camp in Charleston today.  The team has been there a few days now, and had the scrimmage with the College of Charleston shortly after making it there.  Here are some thoughts on some of the players:

  • Pablo Campos: has been slightly banged up, and has been in and out of action.
  • Luis Gil: seems to hold his own on the field, and has confidence in his abilities.  Amazing for a 16 yr old.
  • Nelson Gonzalez: has really shown that he belongs on the field during the entire preseason.  Has been quite aggressive.  Is especially comfortable when playing with Javier Morales and Fabian Espindola.  Has seen action at left back, left mid, and up top.  Expect Kreis to find a way to get him on the field during the upcoming season.

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Real Salt Lake Numbers by Position

Mar 5

Posted by kirsoccer in Preseason, Rumors | 6 Comments

Real Salt Lake headed out today en-route to Charleston for their 2nd preseason trip.  They will be in Charleston through March 20th, which will allow them to complete their training for the final week of the preseason here in Salt Lake.

You may have seen our previous post on the roster numbers.  I think there is a theoretical mix of numbers at each position that does exist, but other practical matters come into play as the roster is constructed which may alter this theoretical ideal mix.  It’s also likely that a premium will be placed on flexibility.  Here are the current 26 players in camp.  As a reminder, under the now-expired CBA each team was able to have a roster of up to 20 senior roster players and 4 developmental players.

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Pictures from today’s practice

Mar 4

Posted by kirsoccer in Photos, Preseason | 3 Comments

Here are some pics from today’s practice:

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New Champs Jubalani Ball

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Team huddles at the close of practice

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RSL Snowshoeing Pics

Mar 3

Posted by kirsoccer in Preseason | 2 Comments

RSL had their now somewhat annual snowshoeing day today. Here are a few pics of the event:

Pic Courtesy of RSL Communications Dept

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Thoughts from Practice – 03/02/2010

Mar 2

Posted by truhlk in Former Players, Luis Gil, Preseason, Real Salt Lake | 2 Comments

Luis Gil

Real Salt Lake players got back on the field today after enjoying the day off yesterday. The team ran through most of their normal drills working on their passing games, practicing team defense, finishing around the goal, and trying to integrate/re-integrate Kyle Beckerman, Luis Gil, and Nick Rimando to the rest of the team. Kyle and Nick were both back from USA training camp after spending the last several weeks working with a team USA that strangely resembled an MLS all-star team. Luis meanwhile was at practice for the first time after being picked up by Real midway through last week. All three looked very comfortable with their team mates and should have no trouble getting into the swing of things.

Luis was one player I paid close attention to throughout practice. While he is just 16 years old he looks very confident in his abilities and although he has a lot to learn, he didn’t appear out of place practicing with an MLS side. He has a decent first touch and saw the field well in scrimmage. He will need some time to get familiar with his new team mates but he appeared creative and generally found himself around the ball in the attacking third. His defense looks to be the biggest area he will need to improve but with this being his first practice I’m going to give him a pass.

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RSL vs Colorado Preseason photos

Feb 27

Posted by truhlk in Colorado Rapids, Game Coverage, Preseason, Real Salt Lake, Rocky Mountain Cup | 1 Comment

As many of you already know Real Salt Lake wrapped up their final preseason match in sunny Arizona yesterday with a 0-0 tie against the Colorado Rapids. While neither team look too dangerous in the attacking third I’m told that the game itself was fun to watch, complete with some of the drama that seems to come up every time these two teams meet. A loyal KIR reader was in attendance and managed to take some great pictures of the fun. Like any other Pics our readers have so graciously donated to the site these can be viewed on the Contributed Pics portion of our website or you can just view them by clicking on the picture below . A big thanks goes out to Kellie Elzinga for sharing some great photos with us!

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Roster Cut-Down Approaching: RSL’s Numbers

Feb 24

Posted by kirsoccer in Preseason | 7 Comments

March 1st is typically roster cut-down day in Major League Soccer.  It’s a bit unclear how this will play out with the ongoing labor dispute, but since the league is taking a “business as usual” approach, and putting the ball in the players court, I’m assuming that we’ll see a number of cuts made when RSL returns from Casa Grande, Arizona this weekend.

This doesn’t mean that RSL won’t have some “trialists” on-board, but if there are any players currently under contract that aren’t part of the plans (El Khalifi, etc.) then they will likely be waived after this weekend.

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Questions for Camp #2

Feb 23

Posted by kirsoccer in Preseason | 4 Comments

With all that’s been going on, I am seriously late posting this.

The first round of Questions for Camp was a rousing success in my eyes.  Please leave your questions here by 10PM tonight, and I will pick the top 5 to submit.

What do you want to know about camp?  What questions do you have for the player or coaches?

Williams Update, Gil Connection

Feb 23

Posted by kirsoccer in Preseason | 1 Comment

Sheanon Williams Status

I have been able to confirm that Sheanon Williams will be subject to a weighted lottery at some point in the future.  Some of the details have been filled in for me:

1) Williams has signed with the league.

2) Williams paid his own way to go on trial with RSL.

3) He hasn’t played in about 6 months due to the foot injury, and he is using this trial as an opportunity to prove himself.

4) Williams is getting a look at left back as RSL sees Wingert/Russell as right back options, and Beltran on the left.  They are looking at Williams, Justin Davis, and Raphael Cox on the left side.

Luis Gil Connection

Apparently Luis Gil’s brother, Brian, spent some time as a trialist/practice participant with Real Salt Lake in the ‘05/’06 timeframe.

He was even listed as “unprotected” for the Toronto FC expansion draft in some media releases, but I’m not sure if he was ever officially on the roster.

Robbie Russell: Postcards from Camp #2

Feb 21

Posted by kirsoccer in Preseason, Robbie Russell | No Comments

DSC_0057Here is our second update from camp – this one coming from veteran Robbie Russell who had an eventful start to the preseason just trying to get out from the east.  Much appreciation to Robbie and the thoughts he has shared with us below.  We’ll look to hear from both him and Justin Davis one more time next week as the team wraps up the Arizona portion of camp.  Enjoy!

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