Real Salt Lake manager Jason Kreis in selection dilemma: CONCACAF Champions League semi-final
The Major League soccer (MLS) season 2011 starts on March 19th for Real Salt Lake (RSL), but the team will be busy on March 15th as they take on Costa Rican outfit, Deportivo Saprissa at Rio Tinto in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions
League semi-final. RSL beat Columbus Crew in the quarter-finals and Saprissa defeated Honduran club, Olympia, in the same round.
The only American team in the continental Champions League is well prepared for the match but the manager, Jason Kreis, is facing a selection headache. In the last training session ahead of the crucial match, left-back, Chris Wingert hurt himself at Xango
Field. The session was about to conclude when the defender went down in agony after twisting his ankle. Kreis is still unsure about the seriousness of the injury as the manager is waiting for the medical team to announce the X-Ray results. However, it is anticipated
that the player has incurred a minor injury and will be up and running before the semi-final.
Wingert’s injury is not the only problem that the manager is facing at the moment. Kries is yet to finalise his ideal starting eleven. Tony Beltran and Robbie Russell are the contestants for the right-back position while the centre-midfield has the options
of Andy Williams and Ned Grabavoy. Andy Williams was brilliant in the quarter-finals against the Crew, scoring a goal while also providing an assist in the second leg. However, Williams is more than just a goal scorer. The player boasts excellent passing ability
which seems to have earned him his manager’s confidence.
On the other hand, Grabavoy has been marvellous in the training sessions, but he is yet to start a league match for RSL. The coach wants to give the playmaker a chance to prove his mettle against the Costa Ricans. According to Kreis, the selection dilemma
is a good problem to have, “We have a good problem I think you can call it” Kreis said. “There are those two decisions to make and then we have some quality forwards that haven’t seen minutes yet in this round that probably deserve a consideration as well.”
The forward line-up has the options of Alvaro Saborio, Paulo Araujo Jr. and Cody Arnoux in addition to the New York Red Bulls striker, Conor Chinn in the roster as a reserve player. The former San Francisco Dons forward is yet to be given a chance by his
new team. Chinn’s future, along with 2011 draftee Jared van Schaik, is still under clouds.
Jason is left with just one day to finalize the final line-up before the semi-final, and with wingert out injured, there is a lot of pressure on the manager. However, if Wingert fails to make it for Tuesday’s scrimmage, right-back Beltran will be rendering
his services out of position on the left-back spot.
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