Real Salt Lake midfield: With team deep in the center, Kreis' concern will be the wings

If things fall into place for Real Salt Lake in 2008, it could feature one of the best midfields in MLS.

Kyle Beckerman is one of the best holding midfielders in the league, and by opening day should be fully recovered from his foot injury. Javier Morales, acquired late last season, is a very skilled attacking midfielder, someone who loves to distribute the ball, is deadly on free kicks, and who's enjoying a great preseason.

Dema Kovalenko, who RSL traded for last month, is a fierce competitor who brings a ton of veteran experience to the team. Argentina Matias Cordoba is another newcomer who has a wealth of skill, someone the coaching staff is extremely high on. Then there's Nate Sturgis, one of the best up-and-coming holding midfielders in the United States, a player who figures to start in the Olympics this summer.

Oh yeah, and then there's RSL veteran Andy Williams, who might be enjoying his best preseason ever, as well as Carey Talley.

There's no mistaking the talent and potential, but the big question is how will it all come together.

Beckerman, Cordoba, Sturgis and Talley all prefer to play the same holding midfield position, and none of the seven midfielders could be mistaken for a true outside midfielder. Two, however, will likely get penciled into those spots every week, sort of.

Coach Jason Kreis threw conventional formation wisdom out the window last year with his definition of a 4-4-2. With the team's best midfielders all preferring to play centrally, Kreis adjusted the team's approach by having the midfield, including the wide players, pinch in toward the center of the pitch. The idea was to have the outside defenders push into that space on the attack, which was met with mixed results.

With a similar roster of central midfielders, Kreis will likely take a similar approach in 2008.

Of all the midfielders, Kovalenko is probably the one player best suited to play on the wings. Even though he's spent a good chunk of his career playing in the middle, most recently in New York he was utilized mostly at left midfield.

From the coaching staff's point of view these question marks are positives, increasing not only RSL's depth but the competition level in practice.

One area that at least initially isn't a concern is attacking midfield.

Brought in at a price tag of $120,000 — the team's fourth highest-paid player at the end of last year — Morales was signed to be the catalyst of the team's attack. It was once believed that Mehdi Ballouchy would be that guy, but Kreis never saw that vision and dealt him to Colorado last summer for a more defensive-minded midfielder in Beckerman.

In the seven games he played last year, Morales had moments of being that offensive spark plug, but a shoulder injury sustained in a reserve game before his contract was finalized limited him the entire time. Die-hard fans no doubt remember his free kick goal against the L.A. Galaxy and are hoping for more of the same.

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E-mail: jedward@desnews.com