Ellinger not taking any excuses

Beating around the bush isn't John Ellinger's style, that's why he's one of the most respected coaches in Major League Soccer. The Real Salt Lake coach has a reputation for being upfront and honest with his players, and at Tuesday's practice, he laid the law down.

"Today the message was sent very clearly and succinctly by coach, that things had to change. Attitudes had to change," said RSL forward Jason Kreis. "It wasn't going to be acceptable to come out of games and say we were just flat. That's not going to be acceptable in his eyes or anyone else."

That overall lethargic attitude led to a 3-1 loss to the Galaxy last weekend, a result that could've been much worse without a couple of excellent saves by keeper D.J. Countess.

With the team's home opener this Saturday, Ellinger also challenged his players to rediscover the hunger they possessed during the opening weeks of training camp in Bradenton, Fla. — a stretch which RSL went 4-0-1 after an opening-game loss to D.C. United.

"There's a lot of players, right or wrong, who were placed on the expansion list and they weren't really happy about that," said Ellinger. "When you have something to prove, there's a little different passion in your play because of that. It makes a difference."

That passion was lacking against the Galaxy, and teamwork suffered as a result.

RSL defender Eddie Pope always stresses that defending isn't the responsibility of merely four defenders, but the whole team. When forwards are tracking back to win balls in the midfield, that eases the pressure off the midfield. The same thing applies to midfielders dropping back to help defenders.

That lack of support led to a very low possession percentage against the Galaxy, and countless giveaways around the field.

"We didn't do a very good job of keeping the ball," said Pope. "If you turn the ball over in poor spots, you're going to be exposed every time."

Losing the possession battle was particularly frustrating for RSL's coaches and players, because quite frankly, Salt Lake is a possession-oriented team. That's how Real won so many games during the preseason.

Miserable weather spoiled any hopes of that in the opener at the MetroStars, with a seeming lack of confidence playing a role at Los Angeles.

"We weren't working hard enough for each other defensively, and the same was true offensively," said Kreis.