Real Salt Lake still upbeat despite dismal record so far this season

LEHI — Frustrated Real Salt Lake fans aren't alone. Coach Jason Kreis is just as discouraged that his team only has four points through five matches and sits in seventh place in the Western Conference.

"I wanted more, and I thought this team was capable of getting points," said Kreis, who is the first to admit that four points isn't good enough for a defending champion.

Realistically, though, Kreis isn't worried. Two months from now, if Real Salt Lake is still in seventh place, he'll be very ornery. For now, though, he and his players are still very upbeat about the 2010 season despite RSL's 1-3-1 record.

"If you look at the games individually, look at who the opponents were, four of five being on the road, and just look at how we played; we're battling away in all of those games and have chances to win and tie those games," said Kreis. "That alone, just the quality of play, and how we're doing within those matches is a marked improvement over our road form last season."

Indeed it is. Even though RSL's record through five games last year was 3-2-0, only two of those games were on the road. The team was 0-4-0 with zero goals scored and seven surrendered in its first four road games a year ago.

In fact, it was held scoreless in 529 consecutive minutes on the road to start the 2009 campaign.

It's not much to brag about, but this season, Real Salt Lake is 1-3-0 with five goals scored and five allowed away from home.

That minimal progress is the reason for all the optimism.

"We've been in every game. It's not like teams are blowing us out or anything. We feel like we're doing fine," said striker Robbie Findley. "We still believe in what we're doing."

It won't mean much if Real Salt Lake fails to capitalize on its upcoming stretch of seven of nine games at Rio Tinto Stadium.

A successful home stand would vault RSL back into contention for the MLS Supporters' Shield, the prestigious trophy awarded to the team with the best regular-season record.

Certainly in some respects, RSL is on pace with previous Supporters' Shield recipients. Since 2005, only two of five Supporters' Shield winners had respectable records five games into the season.