Ellinger set to go with 4-5-1 formation in 2007

With 16 goals and 11 assists last year, there's no disputing that Real Salt Lake's Jeff Cunningham was one of the most productive players in Major League Soccer.

Assuming the often enigmatic Cunningham stays motivated throughout the upcoming season, the pieces are there for the speedy forward to increase that productivity even more — something his coach is counting on.

During a preseason in which RSL coach John Ellinger experimented with a variety of formations, he's determined that Cunningham is the linchpin to it all. He believes success is inevitable by surrounding Cunningham with players who provide the best offensive prowess but who also attend to their defensive responsibilities.

"Jeff had a great year, an MVP-caliber year," said Ellinger. "I think we've got to make it work around Jeff. How can we get him the freedom he needs to make the runs he needs to make? That's where my head is now."

A 4-5-1 formation appears to be the solution, even though Ellinger says he "still believes that matchups are everything."

Entering the preseason Ellinger thought that with the personnel at his disposal, a 3-5-2 approach might be the best fit. It assured him of having his best offensive threats on the field at the same time but not at the expense of the defense. A handful of games made the coaching staff see otherwise.

For a variety of reasons, RSL's possession just wasn't up to snuff in that formation. Part of the problem was that outside midfielders Mehdi Ballouchy and Chris Klein just weren't factors in that formation. They were so cognizant of dropping back defensively, they usually weren't in the right spots to support the attack when needed, basically rendering two of RSL's most important players somewhat irrelevant.

The trickle-down impact was that Freddy Adu didn't have much space to be creative in the middle of the field, and as a result the forwards rarely received balls in dangerous places. That lack of possession impacted the defense significantly as well as the back line, which was often under pressure.

Ellinger is confident that a 4-5-1 approach takes care of many of those problems.

First and foremost, having four defenders enables RSL's wide midfielders to push into the attack much more confidently — an absolute must with Cunningham up top all by himself.

While Klein has been firmly entrenched at right midfield since opening day last year, the other two offensive-minded midfield positions have sorted themselves.