Real Salt Lake looks to shake its slump

The recent water-cooler rumblings about Real Salt Lake have been all about formations.

The team has utilized three different formations during its seven-game winless streak and has shown well at times in all three formations, despite the absence of a victory.

RSL almost exclusively used a 4-4-2 formation last year, but it has deviated a bit from that base recently, using both a 4-5-1 and a 4-3-3 in hopes of breaking out of its slump.

At this point, coach Jason Kreis anticipates the weekly formation shake-ups to continue.

"I think every game is going to give us a little bit of a different look, and we'll have a little bit of a different feeling about the way we should play," said Kreis. "Last year, I really felt like we could only play the one way. Every time we tried to play another way, the guys weren't comfortable, didn't look right, allowed too many chances, didn't create enough chances. This year, I feel now we've played three ways and shown very good soccer all three ways."

As much as anything, the venue might dictate how RSL plays.

At Rio Tinto Stadium, the players feel much more comfortable and will likely use the same type of 4-3-3 formation that created so many scoring opportunities against Colorado. RSL's version of a 4-3-3 is basically a 4-5-1 but with attacking players in the wide midfielder roles.

Against the Rapids, it enabled strikers Robbie Findley, Yura Movsisyan and Fabian Espindola to be on the field at the same time. With the three attacking players pushed up, a good chunk of RSL's scoring opportunities came from out wide. Kreis hopes his team takes better advantage in the future.

"What we need to continue to build on is we've got to realize there is going to be that kind of service in the box, and we've got to get more players in the box and finish those opportunities," said Kreis.

With better finishing on those dangerous crosses from the wings, RSL could've easily been up 3-0 at the half against Colorado last weekend. Instead, it was forced to settle for a 1-1 draw.

From a defensive perspective, Kreis was equally pleased with what he saw last Saturday.

"(We were) covering the gaps and taking opportunities to get two players around most balls, which is something we've been working on a long time. Glad to see it come tonight, so hopefully we'll continue to do that and realize that's what we have to do every game to get points," said Kreis.

A big reason for the success was the defensive contribution from the wide forwards. Espindola and Movsisyan consistently tracked back when Colorado was in possession, giving RSL a 4-5-1 look and making it difficult for the visitors to break down.

"It's a lot of work, not easy, but our guys are capable of it," said Kreis.

The big question is how often will Kreis demand that of his players? Surrounded by the comforts of home, those wide forwards probably didn't mind tracking back defensively. On the road, however, the task will inevitably become more challenging. If Kreis is unsure how those same players will handle the rigors of that responsibility on the road, he has the option of dropping them or different players deeper into the wide midfield to shore up the defense with what becomes a 4-5-1 approach.

Then again, there's always the option of Real Salt Lake using its base 4-4-2 formation — the same formation that led to the club's first playoff appearance last year.

E-mail: jedward@desnews.com