Davis: Kreis credits RSL's spirit, morale
Claret-and-Cobalt head coach excelled in crisis management during MLS Cup
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And he didn't talk much about lineups and strategic deployments as they affected Sunday's stirring and historic outcome on Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field, insisting once against that his team prevails through spirit and a healthy dose of esprit de corps.
Still, there were some interesting things happening in the cool Seattle night as the 14th MLS Cup Final unfolded -- ultimately finishing successfully for the underdogs from Real Salt Lake.
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• RSL stun Galaxy in PK win • Rimando named MLS Cup MVP • Counted out, RSL never stopped • Kreis credits RSL's spirit, morale • Undecided fans lead pregame 'March' • RSL defy odds to lift MLS Cup • RSL shuffles midfield on fly • Saunders puts in remarkable effort • Dissappointment tinges pride for LA • Galaxy notes: Ricketts breaks hand • RSL notes: Findley shows quickness • MLS Cup 2009 notes & facts
MLS CUP SIGHTS & SOUNDS
Behind the scenes Watch RSL 1, LA 1 (5-4, PKs) Watch Findley ties the game Watch Magee puts LA ahead Watch Postgame penalty kicks Watch Russell's winning PK Watch MLS Cup presentation Watch RSL postgame presser Watch LA postgame presser Watch ET postgame show Watch ET All-Access: The Sitter Watch ET All-Access: Garber Watch MLS Cup pregame Watch Supporters Summit Watch Galaxy pregame presser Watch RSL pregame presser Watch |
Most of the in-game adjustment for RSL was about crisis management, as Kreis, the youngest manager to win an MLS title at age 36, was forced to make two changes by halftime. The first came when Javier Morales, who is so important to Real Salt Lake's possession, crumbled beneath David Beckham's tough challenge. Morales attempted to soldier on but soon buried his head in his hands in painful resignation, for he knew his night was done.
In came Clint Mathis. It had been 10 years almost to the day that Mathis had last appeared in an MLS Cup Final. Now he was on the spot, having to fill Morales' sizeable, creative shoes. Kreis elected for a straight swap, keeping Andy Williams on the right while asking Mathis to play centrally at the top of the fluid diamond.
At halftime workhorse midfielder Will Johnson had to remove himself, still weak from dealing with food poisoning.
Mathis did a commendable job, but Morales' absence was noticeable. Mathis is no Morales in terms of maintaining possession. Sure enough, Real Salt Lake's signature, tidy possession, which was working so well over the game's first 20 minutes, virtually disappeared.
The possession game having gone awry, RSL suddenly was at a loss for attacking ideas. The game was increasingly being squeezed into RSL half. Mathis didn't seem to have a plan as he dribbled at one point straight into the heart of the Galaxy defense, quickly overtaken by the swarm. Johnson did the very same thing a few minutes later with the very same results -- and this time RSL paid a high price.
The Galaxy moved forward quickly and Landon Donovan soon found himself along the right with space and ample time to get his head up. He spotted Mike Magee's aggressive far post run and the match was suddenly slanted the Galaxy's way.
That goal was manufactured precisely as manager Bruce Arena and the Galaxy had hoped. They played with two holding midfielders, Jovan Kirovski and Chris Birchall, keeping Beckham out wide on the right and hoping to use his vision and passing over distance to spring the counter attack. It's not a big secret that L.A. plays that way, but the degree to which the Galaxy relied on defend-and-counter seemed to surprise Kreis and his players.
"LA sat back -- a lot," Kreis said. "They looked to counter attack -- a lot. They played very direct."
Beckham has been in the middle for Arena through most of the season. But he moved out wide Sunday, in part, due to the gimpy ankle that kept him from training through much of the week. Arena hoped that Kirovski and Birchall could do the bulk of the defensive work, leaving Beckham to expend his limited energy orchestrating the counter.
"He was obviously a little bit hobbled," Arena said of Beckham. "He certainly wasn't 100 percent."
Where to station Beckham wasn't Arena's only difficult pregame choice. He made two changes from the lineup that had finally upended Houston in last week's Western Conference final. Kirovski and Birchall were preferred to Chris Klein and Dema Kovalenko, in part because of illness to Kovalenko, who had been starting since early September.
The Galaxy's central midfield enforcer had been ill during the week with a viral infection. Arena said Kovalenko was feeling better over the last couple of days leading into the final, but the manager remained reluctant to ask 90 minutes of him.
"To start him today would been a real issue," Arena said. "He would not have had a full tank."
Kovalenko could perhaps have been an energy provider off the bench, but Arena was somewhat handcuffed when goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts needed to be replaced, effectively killing one potential tactical replacement. Instead, Arena moved Beckham back inside after about 70 minutes, hoping to shake something loose on the attack.
Things were going a little better on the other bench after halftime. Kreis encouraged his players at the break to make the extra pass in midfield, to stop rushing the ball forward. A big part of RSL's plan is always to wear down teams by maintaining possession. They lost their way over the last 20 minutes of the first half but regained balance from there.
Sure enough, young Galaxy center back Omar Gonzalez was cramping by the 80th minute and needed to be removed shortly thereafter. That subtracted yet another opportunity for Arena to make a tactical personnel change. Wouldn't Eddie Lewis, for instance, have been a wonderful, experienced presence to introduce late, or perhaps in extra time with penalty kicks looming?
"You could see a bunch of them starting to cramp up," RSL captain Kyle Beckerman said. "It just wears on you when you play defense a lot. ... When you take care of the ball, at the end of matches you're going to have a lot more steam."
Ned Grabavoy, Johnson's replacement, assisted in that regard. So did Andy Williams, who had a nice match, interchanging liberally with Morales and Johnson initially, then later with their replacements. He was also the chief supplier to Findley, who found space increasingly available as the night went on.
"Just like Kyle said, I think in the second half they got a little tired," Findley said. "Their legs were wearing on them. For the most part the corners were open for us, because their wide guys [fullbacks] would step up and take our midfielders. So the corners were open a lot."
Defensively, Real Salt Lake did the two things perhaps most important to tamping down the Galaxy attack. They generally muffled Donovan, with Robbie Russell able to match the U.S. international's pace. And they limited Beckham's chances to hit dangerous free kicks. Jamison Olave's foul on Donovan and Beckerman's trip of Beckham, both in the second half, provided the only real opportunities for Beckham to test goalkeeper Nick Rimando on a free kick.
Steve Davis is a freelance writer who has covered Major League Soccer since its inception. Steve writes for www.DailySoccerFix.com and can be reached at BigTexSoccer@yahoo.com. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
