SALT LAKE CITY -- The challenge is much stiffer for Real Salt Lake as they look to claim their second home victory -- and second victory overall -- when they take on FC Dallas Saturday evening at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Instead of dealing with a star player or two, RSL must figure out how to contain a team bursting at the seams with talent.
FC Dallas have not claimed the top spot in the Western Conference by accident. The Hoops weaved together a four-game unbeaten streak to open the season behind the accurate scoring of forward Kenny Cooper and deadly playmaking from midfielders Juan Toja and Andre Rocha.
"It's a team full of players that know their role," RSL coach Jason Kreis said. "They're tactically very smart players, tactically very gifted players. There's some players that like to run at you. They got a guy that can score goals. They got the complete package."
If RSL hopes to return that complete package to sender, it seems like the club has caught Dallas at the perfect time.
FC Dallas has not scored a goal in its last two games -- a loss to New England and a draw to San Jose. Scoring at home has not been a problem for Real. They have hit for eight goals in three MLS matches and another four in a U.S. Open Cup qualifier.
RSL has no doubt it can get off to a quick start against FC Dallas. Salt Lake found a way to put two goals on the Galaxy before the match was 20 minutes old last week.
The key, according Kyle Beckerman, is not slacking off if things don't turn into a blowout right away.
He noted there was a little bit of mental deflation for some of the players when Los Angeles rallied behind a pair of incredible goals before the end of the first half. They half expected the game to be over before halftime and could not regroup when it didn't happen.
Beckerman said RSL needs to learn to play with small leads as well as big leads.
"We just needed to be a little bit smarter and just be more patient and let the goals come," Beckerman said. "That's what we're going to try to do [against FC Dalla] is come out aggressive, try and get a goal in the first 15-20 minutes and then go from there."
For Kreis, RSL has not been as successful at home at it should be because of the team's failure to manage a game through 90 minutes. It's something that comes through experience, he says, but it's also a process RSL needs to master if they hope to rise up the MLS ladder.
Goalkeeper Nick Rimando said that it was basically the five-minute stretch where David Beckham took over which undid RSL against the Galaxy. Real did not press enough on defense, he said, and it put Los Angeles back in the game.
"At home, we always feel like we should win," Rimando said. "Going 2-0 up, no team should ever come back and tie you -- especially at home."
RSL will be a little shorthanded this weekend with Nate Sturgis still recovering from a hamstring strain and Ian Joy battling worsening ankle bone spurs. The bone spurs have become serious enough to merit Joy's left leg being placed in a walking cast. The whole situation has been frustrating for the defender who had hoped to be at 100 percent long before now.
"Every time he thinks he's taking a step forward, he takes two steps back," Kreis said of Joy's ankle problems.
Also absent from the RSL squad will be one-time captain Carey Talley, who was traded Frriday afternoon to Chivas USA for a conditional second-round selection in either the 2010 or 2011 MLS SuperDraft.
Kreis will not be on the sidelines as well, as he serves out one-game suspension for publicly criticizing MLS officials earlier this week.
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