Beckerman, Rimando called up for international duty; Lagerwey and Kreis on young players

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?

First, and perhaps foremost, is the news that Kyle Beckerman and Nick Rimando have, as expected, been named to the national team squad. Although we can't be much surprised by this, it's always quite nice to see, and the national and international attention brought to the players as a result is wholly justified. Good word, Kyle's leading the league in passes (completed and made) and other vital statistics, and Nick is at the very least up there in the stats (the big one for me? Four saves of the week in nine weeks. Whadda guy.)

It does hurt us a bit, though, as at least Capt. Beckerman will likely be absent for our match against FC Dallas at the end of the month (Nick Rimando is a bit up in the air, as he is seen mostly as the third-choice keeper at current). Further, they'll be leaving for the camp soon (if they've not already jetted off) and this does provide a little disruption to our setup, as they're very much central figures at the club. It's deserved, though, and I'm firmly convinced that we'll be better off for their involvement — supposing they come back injury-free, of course.

Second, and I suppose this isn't much news so much as it is an interesting analysis from two of the guys in charge of the club, there have been questions perhaps rightly raised about the state of our reserves. First, statements from Garth Lagerwey during his OnFrame interview last night. I'll let these stand as-is and share my thoughts after the quoting has finished.

"We want all our young players to be able to compete for spots in the team, but at the same time, nothing is given. … On our team, especially with an established core, you've got to fight, and you've got to fight every day. … Our reserve team performances haven't been good enough. To some degree, I think the effort is good in those games. … I don't sense that some of our younger players have accepted the responsibility of challenging for places. … We expect more from (reserves.) It is something where we need some of these young kids understand what role competition plays."

Right, there's that. It's pretty clear cut. Here's something from Jason Kreis during his interview on 1320 KFAN today.

"I'm trying to be extremely realistic. It's easy to get sucked up into results. We've learned how to win here… everything about Real Salt Lake is about winning now… I'm trying to look at it on a deeper level, on a deeper basis. You're looking at 9, 10 players who are in their first year with Real Salt Lake. When those young players have played in the first team, they've done very, very well. On a more micro level, I have to be patient and say that good things are still to come."

Two sides of the same coin, to be sure. Jason, for what it's worth, does sound somewhat concerned, though not to the same level Garth is displaying here. Whether that's a personality difference, a difference in perspective, or simply the two playing off each other (not so intentionally in the media as much as their positions at the club), I'm not sure. Our reserves side hasn't won in something around a year-and-a-half, and that's got to worry them a bit. I'm not sure what the answers are, but I think we've got two great guys at the club to look at it.

For what it's worth, I'm not particularly worried. While we certainly need our young players to step up at times, we've seen them do that with the first team. Now, that really should translate into reserves matches, too: Competition for places depends on it. Surely when you've got an established core, competition for places seems a little less feasible for some younger players. Is this particularly a mental flaw? I'm not sure. I don't exactly play the sport, and I don't know what it takes entirely. Regardless, hearing Garth Lagerwey and Brian Dunseth talk last night about their experiences as young players in MLS should be required listening for every young soccer player in the United States.

Right, I suppose that's all for today. See you all tomorrow; I'll try to get something out to you a bit earlier this time.