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US: MLS Preview- New England Revolution v Real Salt Lake [Fri Sep 2nd, 2005]
Real Salt Lake (5-15-4, 19 pts) v New England Revolution (13-5-6, 45 pts)
When: 10:00pm EST, Saturday, September 3rd, 2005
Where: Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City, Utah
On Wednesday night Real Salt Lake got the big hurt at the hands of DC United, 5-1 to be exact. After the match, RSL Head Coach John Ellinger felt that his team had given up entirely, though some observers said that recent addition Melvin Tarley (the goal scorer on the night) was the only one who was not terrible that evening.
Now this weekend, Salt Lake must take on the Revolution, who defeated DC last week. Simply put, this team really have no motivation at this point. The playoffs are out of the question and when most of the team no longer cares, the effort of the few that try is lost.
The rotation of who is available for the Revs continues. With Avery John, Taylor Twellman, and Steve Ralston all away for World Cup qualifiers, Steve Nicol has to be happy that Bruce Arena has released Clint Dempsey and Matt Reis from training this week.
The Revs should get ample offensive production out of Dempsey, Pat Noonan, Jose Cancela, and Andy Dorman to overcome a Salt Lake team that haven’t been able to win in a month.
Salt Lake have been on the skids for some time now, and the addition of Adolfo Gregorio, Robert Scarlett, and Melvin Tarley, along with the return of Clint Mathis, seemed to only have a negative effect on the team as a whole earlier this week.
Ellinger’s comments about his team’s work ethic on Wednesday may inspire his team to come out strong on Saturday, but what do they have to play for this season?
Each week the Revs try to be better than they were the week before, and every player continues to work for a spot in the every changing starting line-up. These two teams are at opposite ends of the spectrum, and Saturday’s score should reflect that.
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