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Real Salt Lake reaps reward of Checketts' gamble

What channel number is this on direct TV? Anyone, please.

Is there anybody on RSL the D-News hasn't stroked this week? What about Kenny Cutler, hasn't he done everything asked of him? Really, we need to take down the Red Bulls before we praise Caesar, otherwise we'll be burying him too soon.

A little editing might be useful. I have a hard time believing that there is a lot of "parody" going on in the MLS. But maybe that would be a good way to increase viewership.

A little editing might be in order for this story. I find it hard to believe that there is a lot of "parody" in the MLS these days. Maybe there ought to be though. It could increase viewership.

As a early critic of Jason Kreis, especailly his management of substitutions. I have to say Jason has put together a great season and has in the past few games made excellent tactical moves to secure winning matches. I still would like to see more of Espindola and less of Mathis. Mathis seems most dangerous early and needs to be pulled earlier in the second half to give Espindola time to get into the flow of a match.
Saturday should be epic, Lets hope we fill the stadium.

i believe everyone deserves all this praise and more, we've made it farther than anyone expected. whatever happens on saturday, this season has been an incredible success. look at where we came from, remember EMBRATSU? this is a totally different team and organization. better in every way. RSL deserves all this praise.

Kudos to Checketts for making the change. It's not like he didn't give Ellinger the time/chance to make it work. Kries has the fire and vision...If Kries were in the lineup instead of Cleetus, he'd probably have 10 goals by now...

DirecTV channel 620 is Fox Soccer Channel
DirecTV channel 79 is HDnet

Fox Soccer Channel is 619 on DirecTV.
620 is GolTV which is also a great channel.

Does anyone know if Jason Kries wants to be a National Team coach for the US in the future? Because if he can keep it up like this, and he is pretty young, he might be able to get a shot at the job.

I like Espindola, but disagree that Mathis should come out earlier. We don't have the time to let him "get into the flow of the match". We have to play up tempo for the full 90 minutes. The players prefer it, the fans prefer it, and the TV audience prefers it. Maybe bring in Espindola at the half?

No matter the outcome, Kries is a great coach and he will only get better. Checketts deserves a lot of credit for going with his gut on this one. There got to be a point under Ellinger's tenure where I wanted the team to fail so he would finally get fired, because I knew we would never be good with him in charge. He is a really nice man, but he was never going to get the job done here.

granted Mathis brings energy. But thats not what we need. We need crisp passing and shots on goal. Espidola has played in 12 games with 17 shots on goal. Mathis has played in 11 with a whopping 3 shots on goal. Espindola came back from injury for three games in the middle of the season and scored 5 goals. Mathis is a great aggitator, like Matt Harpring of the jazz.
My hat goes off to Olave and the back line. They've stepped it up. especially in the 2nd half. Keep it up and we'll win the cup.

GO RSL!!!

I believe needs to start, Mathis is a great player and he can get into players heads, but maybe we need some skilled players out there for this game, either way LETS GO RSL

too many people make a big deal about shots on goal. who cares. what we need are shots in goal. 20 shots on goal doesn't mean a thing. mathis isn't in the game to score. he is their for composure, passing, and skill. he has a knowledge of the game most mls players clearly lack. he will orchestrate the attack much better than espindola. espindola may have more pace but he is also likely to get hurt celebrating. bring him in for mathis when he poops out but we definitely need some possession to calm the storm. mathis will provide that as well as the occasional stroke of brilliance.

"Mathis isn't in the game to score" !!!!????? Are you kidding me? As far as I know, Mathis checks in the match as a forward/striker - that is the very definition of that position; to score. If we allow that mentality we are down to one up top with a guy jogging around the middle who might possess the ball for a minute and string a pass to someone else absent the occasional stroke of brilliance, which has proven all too "occasional."

Ok, lets clear this up. Ellinger was HORRIBLE for RSL. His decisions on players was awful! Exhibit #1 Taking Nik Besagno over Brad Guzan and Jonathan Bornstein as the #1 Draft pick in 2005. Nik was 16! and only has played like one game for us in about 4 yrs! He is still one of the highest paid players on the team! Other choices including his endless support of Jamie Watson and other Youth USA National Team players who were clearly not ready for MLS. Credit Kreis and Garth Lagerway for picking up great players that can make an immediate impact in the League at bargain basement prices, ie Morales, Rusell, Espindola, Olave, Borchers, and Willy Johnson.

Mathis actually plays as a second striker in a more withdrawn role. I believe that it is necessary to have someone like him on the field. I feel that espindola is a good late game replacement at the moment. He has great technical ability but you never know if he is really 100 percent yet. Yura, findley, and Espindola are all very similar players, hence why Kreis often uses players like Mathis or Kenny Deuchar.

If you don't want to talk shots on goal then lets talk goals. Espidola has 5. Mathis 0. practically the same ammount of games played. If Mathis has a withdrawn role up front where are his assists? Mathis 0 assists. I'm pretty sure that espindola isn't 100% thats why we aren't seeing more of him. Hopfully we'll more of him on sat.

If you want to see how Mathis is performing, take a look at things like that. How many touches does he get, when he does touch the ball, where does he pass it (forward or back), what's the completion percentage, and how often does it result in a chance?

If he is creating enough chances for the team, it is really of little consequence whether he's the one doing the shooting or whether he's helping his teammates do it.