Crunching the Numbers- Vancouver

During the course of the off-season, we heard a lot of talk about Garth Lagerwey building RSL 2.0. I think that no one can deny that this version of RSL has been more successful than any of us thought it could be. But we didn't see RSL 2.0 on the field in Vancouver. The team that went up there and came home with only the second win in club history North of the border was RSL 3.0.

Back in June I wrote my thoughts about RSL 3.0. MLS does not give any types of awards for General Manager of the year. If they did, Lagerwey should win hands down. Not only for building a team competing for three trophies right now, but also for building an even brighter future for RSL in the coming years. Now on to the numbers!

• RSL has now scored 54 goals on the season or a goal every 51.67 minutes. With 54 goals RSL is the top scoring team in the league.
• The team has given up 39 goals on the year or a goal every 71.54 minutes.
• RSL currently has a goal differential of +15 which is tied for the best in the league. It has a +1 goal differential on the road which is also tied for best in the league.
• The team is currently scoring 1.87 goals a game at home and 1.63 goals a game on the road.
• RSL has now had 13 different players score in MLS play. They have 9 players that have 3 or more goals scored! 
• Devon Sandoval and Olmes Garcia have played 397 minutes together. During that time RSL has scored 9 goals or a goal every 44.11 minutes. That is the third best goal scoring rate for all the striker partnerships this year.
• Chris Schuler has now played 1170 minutes. During that time RSL has given up 13 goals or a goal every 90.00 minutes. This is the best among all RSL defenders. 

It is crazy to think about how many options that Jason Kreis has when selecting who will be playing week to week. There is a stark difference between this season and last. In 2012 RSL only had 10 different players score goals and only 5 of those had 3 or more goals. In RSL history, there has been only one season where more than 13 players have scored (2007 with 14). And never before has RSL had so many players with 3 or more goals. The previous best was 6 players in 2010. The team has smashed that record this season.

The return to health by Schuler could be just the thing that the RSL defense needs. As mentioned above, when Schuler plays RSL gives up a goal every 90.00. When he has not played, RSL has been giving up a goal every 62.31 minutes. That is a pretty big difference. It will be interesting to see how much more playing time he gets between now and the end of the season. 

One last note in regards to Lagerwey and the work he did to rebuild RSL this year. In the off-season RSL lost four players (Will Johnson, Jamison Olave, Johnny Steele and Fabian Espindola) that all played major minutes for the team. Those four players this season have gone on to score 23 times for their new clubs. In comparison, DC United as a whole has only scored 20 times. Those were major shoes to fill and Lagerwey did it. Not only did he improve this year's team, but with RSL 3.0 the future is bright. 

Eye on the Academy- Looking at the Reserve Matches

A number of academy players have been called up to play in RSL’s reserve matches and this week’s game was no exception.  Jose Hernandez and Niki Jackson were tagged for Tuesday’s reserve match vs Chivas USA, where Jackson finished a Lovel Palmer cross in the 90th minute.  Check out the video highlight here.

Since this is the final game of the reserve season, it’s worth taking a look back at which academy players received call-ups during the year.

• Justen Glad- A U-16 who’s played 183 total minutes.  He started vs Portland and received a lot of praise, including having Andy Williams call him “mini-Borchers”.
• Jose Hernandez- Was a U-16 until this summer and played 19 total minutes.
• Niki Jackson- Played 20 total minutes and scored 1 goal.
• Brooks Lennon- A U-16 who played 33 total minutes.
• Corey Nemeth- Did not get any playing time in any reserve matches.
• Fito Ovalle- A U-16 played 25 total minutes.
• Sebastian Saucedo- A U-16 who played 90 total minutes. He’s looked like a dangerous attacking player.

The following are former Academy players who have been called up this season, but are now playing collegiate soccer:

• Jordan Allen- Started against the Whitecaps reserves on July 16th in Salt Lake City. Played 154 total minutes.
• Andrew Brody- Played 26 total minutes.
• Ive Burnett- Played 67 total minutes.
• Coco Navarro- Scored for RSL against the Colorado Reserves in Salt Lake, then started the next game (also against the Colorado Reserves) in Commerce City. He also started against Chivas USA in LA on May 20th. Played 237 total minutes.
• Jon Zabasajja- Played 13 total minutes.

Benji Lopez also played reserve minutes as an academy player before signing with RSL.

The fact that there are 4 and a half (Hernandez) U-16s who have played for the reserves is a pretty good sign, especially when they’re earning praise for their play with the Academy team as well. Another good sign is that Glad, Lennon, and Saucedo were also picked up for the USMNT U-18s.

Next time, I’ll take a look at how some of the Academy Alumni are doing out in the big world of college soccer.

Niki Jackson in latest reserve match.
Photo by Charles Barnard

RSL Family- Jason Kreis

As I have been working on this series looking at the RSL Family, I have tried to get the views of a wide variety of different people throughout the organization. One view that I didn't have so far was someone with the coaching staff. And with all the rumors surrounding the team, I feel like today's RSL Family post is more applicable than ever.

When you talk about RSL there is one man that has really seen it all. On November 17, 2004 RSL traded for Jason Kreis making him the first player in RSL history. From player to Head Coach he has been an essential part of the club ever since.

Everything changed for the team when Dave Checketts named him Head Coach. Kreis was the one that came up with "the team is the star" motto. The genesis of the RSL Family really started with him. If there was one person's view on the RSL Family that I wanted to hear, it was his.

I had the opportunity to speak with Coach Kreis after practice on Tuesday. I asked him the same question that I have been asking everybody else up to this point. What does the RSL Family mean to you?

Its a really sentimental thing for me honestly. I have been here since day one. I think it is pretty fair to say there aren't many people involved with this club or fans of this team that have been here longer than me. Its been an amazing ride. It's been an amazing journey to go from the very very lows of the first couple of years. When I tell you low they were really really low. The unhappiness that I was living with after every single match not being able to stop thinking about how bad it was here. To the very very highs of 2009, 2010, 2011. The CONCACAF run. The championship in 2009. It seemed like we never lost in 2010. It's been amazing.

I have made no secret about my personal feeling that I think the fans have been a big big part of this from day one because even when it was it's worst we still had supportive fans cheering us on. It wasn't like some other places where one or two things go wrong and now you have the fans booing you. It has never been that way here and I think it is something that the fans, this community, this family that we call RSL should continue to remind ourselves of. That we are a supportive group, a positive group. We should try to stay away the negativity of outside influences.

It is who we are. We call ourselves a family in the locker room. We call ourselves a family in the stadium. We call ourselves a family in the office. It's just who we are. We believe we gain strength through our togetherness. We gain the ability to compete with the DP's of the world. The all-star teams of Seattle and the Galaxy and New York. We think we have the ability to compete with them because of our togetherness. 

I find these comments fascinating on so many levels in wake of the recent rumors swirling Coach Kreis. But I think the final paragraph of Kreis' comments were the ones that got to the very heart of the RSL Family. It is real. As Kreis said, it is who we are. As a team, as an organization, as a fan base: We are a family.

I don't know if Kreis is going to stay or if he is going to go. I know from looking at him while he was talking to me that he loves this team. There was no doubt about that in my mind. I wouldn't blame him if he were to leave. It might be something that he is unable to pass up. What I do know is that if he does leave, in my mind he will always be a part of the RSL Family.

Eye on the Academy- Introduction

Editor's Note- This is a new semi-regular series that is being written by Pat Eyler. Pat has a real passion for the academy side of things and I am very happy that he has offered to cover this for us at From the Upper Deck.  Watch for his first full post later this week.

By Pat Eyler

Hi there. I’m Pat and I spend way too much time thinking about Soccer in the US and CONCACAF.  I watch CCL and Open Cup games, follow teams at various levels of the USSF Soccer Pyramid, and pay attention to the Academies.  Wait, What?!? Yes, the Academies.  You know, the program that MLS teams use to groom the next generation of players.

Fortunately for me, I live near Salt Lake so I’ve got a great local team to watch.  Even better, they have a great academy program that’s pretty easy to keep track of.  I don’t care so much about the won-lost record of these U-16 and U-18 teams (though knowing the U-16s won the national championship last year is pretty cool).  I do care about how the players are doing, and where they seem to be growing, or stagnating.

Charles asked me if I’d write occasional articles for his blog about RSL’s academy in Casa Grande, AZ (and I’m going to pretend that extends to a USL Pro team I think RSL will be starting up in a year or two).  I have some ideas for future articles (not nearly as stat heavy as Charles’ work), but I’d like to know what you’re interested in.  I don’t have any special connections, so I can’t promise in depth interviews, or “behind the curtain” insights.  But let me know what you’d like to know and I’ll see what I can do.

Ok, and since I can’t write a fluffy introduction without adding some meat, let me toss this out:

The other day, Eric Sondheimer of the LA Times wrote that academies are the wrong way to go, and that they hurt high school players.

The U.S. Soccer Federation's academy program pulls promising players out of high school with the lure of a pro career. But few of the kids will make it as pros.

I think RSL’s academy proves that his argument is false dilemma.  While not every academy player will go on to play professional soccer at the highest level, the young men down in Casa Grande seem to be doing a great job of balancing soccer development and scholastic achievement. In fact, one academy alum is now at Stanford and another has committed there, with a third committing to Princeton.  In fact, a recent blog post says that “every single one [of the student athletes] has been offered a college scholarship” - that sounds like a pretty good academic outcome for the players.