Under the Crossbar: An RSL blog

It was only a friendly, I keep telling myself. It was only a friendly. 89 minutes in, it was still only a friendly. 90 minutes gone, it was still only a friendly. But that last-gasp goal from BYU — 89 gone, stoppage to play — hurt. It stung. It felt like it does in the league when it happens — not at all like when we're on the other side of things.

For the first time in some time, we've not got a true, competitive match to deal with today, and I must confess, my nerves are thanking me quite heartily. Ah, the excitement of seeing the squad and some football today is there, but I'm not so worried about a win — but let's be honest, we're playing a college side in pre-season. If we can't beat them, well — we're in some real trouble with these reserves, aren't we?

Right, I took yesterday a bit off, but I'm back on track with posts in the morning (is that a cheer or a jeer? I can't quite tell). Today, I thought it might be particularly interesting to go over some league-wide statistics, some Real Salt Lake-specific statistics, and maybe to speak to the BYU friendly a bit. Well, then, let's get on with it, shall we?

Another late one. Ho hum. Nothing new. Let's dive into something, shall we?

One reader, Kreg, has done a tremendous thing by keeping track of the average power rankings across the league and across various media outlets, so let's take a look at what he's gathered to this point. He's got it broken down by week, too, so I'm quite interested to see how Real Salt Lake has trended over time. To be clear, the sites he's polling are Soccer America, mlssoccer.com, goal.com, Soccer by Ives, ESPN, SB Nation, Bleacher Report, and NBC Sports. A respectable array.

Right, another late one from me, so you've got my apologies on that. But there's some news to go through, so let's not dally around apologizing and the like, shall we?

I don't often post in the afternoon, but after getting caught up in work all day and not writing in the morning, it sort of became a necessity. So, alas, my apologies, all. Let's go through some stats, shall we? We've got a long week-and-a-half ahead of us, and though it'll be offset by this nice little match at BYU (I'm going — are you?), it will certainly be trying. Not as trying as, say, getting a degree at Bovine University, but you know. There's that.

Stats!

And so it was that Real Salt Lake did fell the mighty Sounders, the plucky underdog quite certainly snatching the points against a rather hapless Seattle side. The match, teetering on a knife point for 50 minutes, was finely poised to swing wildly in either direction.

There were moments when it looked like Seattle might just find a way through, their rush-the-flanks tactics playing out well. But, it turns out, the side with four shots on target is always considerably more likely to win than the side that takes none. It is one of those simple facts of life, I do believe.

There's something interesting about our playing style: Sometimes, it doesn't work. Not entirely, at least. It's not a systemic issue, but a personnel issue — which makes it sound a bit like I'm having a whinge about the players. I'm not. Nor am I about the system. But it's hard to deny that about our side: When we're not ticking over properly, it's not pretty. And sometimes we can do it; we'll win ugly and everything will look OK.

Ah, hello! A good and productive Friday to you all, and welcome back to the blog for the last post before tomorrow's match preview, unless something particularly interesting happens that I feel compelled to write about. You know, news and the sort.

There are two kinds of draws: There's the exciting draw — you know the sort! The ones where you come from behind, you battle, you fight, and you end up snatching a point when it looked like you were destined for an ominous zero. Those, I can deal with. Then, there are draws like last night's: You play, you play, you play, and a good 90 minutes passes, then the match is over.