Adu excited to play with Eskandarian

Freddy Adu is adamant that Alecko Eskandarian will help downtrodden Real Salt Lake.

"He's tireless. He just runs all day, always giving options for midfielders. He works hard, he tracks back, he scores goals out of nowhere," said Adu. "I think it's going to help this team out a lot. I'm actually really excited to have him here."

Adu isn't just blowing hot-air optimism either. Prior to each going their separate ways at the end of the 2006 season, Adu and Eskandarian were teammates at D.C. United for three years.

Eskandarian scored 20 goals during his four-year stint with D.C., and the former No. 1 overall draft pick was named the MLS Cup MVP after leading his club to the 2004 MLS Cup title.

Despite his productivity, D.C. United decided to head a different direction at the end of last season and Eskandarian was shipped across the border to expansion club Toronto FC. Two months into the 2007, he was traded again, this time to Real Salt Lake in exchange for Jeff Cunningham.

Eskandarian debuted with his new team during Friday's training session, which went exactly as RSL coach Jason Kreis had envisioned.

"I think the world of the guy, and I don't even know him that well to be honest, but the spirit that he brought to today's training session was excellent. The spirit just with meeting with me was excellent, and we did some finishing at the end and it was second to none," said Kreis.

For a team that's scored just seven goals in seven games this year and is still winless, Kreis would love to see some of that productivity in action this Sunday when RSL visits the Chicago Fire.

Eskandarian admits there's pressure associated with being traded to a struggling franchise that expects you to help turn things around, but at the same the New Jersey native says he thrives on pressure.

"I enjoy it. At the same time, Jeff (Cunningham) scored a lot of goals here, those are some big shoes to fill, but I'm not looking at it that way," said Eskandarian. "I'm not here to replace Jeff, I'm here to be me and do whatever I can. The one thing I know I can help the team do is win games."

His track record speaks for itself having been a key cog for D.C. United, one of the winningest franchises in MLS.

CHANGING DIRECTIONS: Kreis continues to shake things up as Real Salt Lake's head coach. On Thursday he announced that he'd replaced goalkeeper coach Peter Mellor with Jeff Cassar, a former teammate at Dallas.