From Deseret News archives:
Real Salt Lake: Mathis is making a difference for RSL
Some Real Salt Lake fans are still ticked about his unproductive 2005 and can't believe the club brought him back. Others have been impressed with his work ethic in his second stint with RSL and believe he's truly made a positive impact.
Some choose to look at his statistical production and wonder how a player with no goals and no assists in 11 games continues to get the starting nod at forward.
No matter the opinion from outsiders, the former castoff of Real Salt Lake is held in very high regard by a coaching staff that appears to have finally figured out how to motivate the talented Mathis, a player who's bounced around the world, clashing with one coach after another.
That hasn't been a problem in Utah.
Coach Jason Kreis and Mathis have been close friends for years, and that friendship gave Kreis insight into getting the most out of the former U.S. National Team star. It didn't require reading a bunch of motivational books either, it was simply a matter of open and honest communication.
"He's felt like coaches maybe didn't always feel like they could be honest with him because they were afraid about confrontation with him. He's a fiery individual and he's a guy that doesn't mind telling you how he feels," said Kreis, who was the best man at Mathis' wedding a few years ago.
"We've been completely honest and completely open with him, and we've spelled out to him all the things that he would have to do if he wanted to play for us and wanted to do well with us, and he's done all those things."
Mathis is coming off his second straight 90-minute performance of the season in last weekend's win over Chivas USA, and whether fans like it or not he's very much in Kreis' plans for the second leg this weekend and potentially beyond.
Even though Mathis hasn't logged a goal or an assist yet, it's tough to argue with the results. Since he joined the club in early August, RSL owns a solid 3-0-4 record when Mathis is in the starting line-up. Conversely, it lost four of the five matches when he didn't start and came on as a sub.
"At the end of the day I'm out there working my tail off, causing trouble, and not necessarily getting the assists or goals, but I'm creating chances just off of hard work and trying to win the ball back," said Mathis. "It doesn't matter who scores the goals, it's a matter of winning the game."
According to Kreis, the veteran Mathis brings so many other intangibles to the field besides goals and assists. Shockingly when looking back at 2005, he's actually passionate about these intangibles this time.
