More midfield magic as Real Salt Lake blanks dangerous Dallas team

SANDY — RSL defender Nat Borchers has oft stated that he wouldn't trade his team's midfield for any other midfield in all of MLS.

Borchers has hardly been the only one who's praised RSL's fantastic midfield during the 2010 season — plaudits have continually been given to the club's men in the middle from virtually every corner — but most of the time, those plaudits are for the visible things that they do.

Namely, the midfielders are praised for their ability to help RSL maintain possession and for their ability to be the engine for RSL's lethal offensive attack.

But that's hardly all they do.

To their immense credit, stars Javier Morales, Will Johnson, Andy Williams, Kyle Beckerman and Ned Grabavoy are all willing to defend as much as they attack, and that vital quality is noticed — and appreciated — by Borchers every he time he steps on the pitch with them.

It was certainly seen by Borchers throughout RSL's big 2-0 victory over Dallas Saturday evening inside Rio Tinto Stadium.

All five of RSL's main midfielders covered lots of ground and made big defensive plays — Morales, Johnson, Beckerman and Grabavoy started and Williams came in off the bench — and all that defensive work was a huge reason why RSL was able to keep a very dangerous Dallas team off the scoresheet.

It may have gone unnoticed by some, but rest assured that central defender Nat Borchers noticed all the plays his midfielders made.

"In the back," said Borchers, "you see all those great things, the intangibles, that the guys in front of you are able to do. Will and Kyle and Andy and Ned and Javy — there's no other midfield like ours. And I think that shows with the number of goals we've given up this year. It's not just the back four or Nick (Rimando) — we've said all year — it's the whole group."

Indeed.

That point was particularly meaningful to RSL coach Jason Kreis afterward.

Kreis has repeatedly extolled the mantra of, "Defend as a team; attack as a team," throughout his three-and-a-half-year tenure as RSL's boss, and he said his guys defended extremely well as a team.

"I think I walk away from this game and feel probably most proud about shutting out what's a very, very good dangerous attacking team," he said. "I think it was an effort by all the guys.