This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
It seemed to be a favorable comparison, the one in the recent article by the Reuters news agency that said coach Jason Kreis strives to have his RSL team play like FC Barcelona, by most accounts the best team in the world.Except Kreis said it wasn't quite right.Asked about the article fter his team's final practice before tonight's Major League Soccer opener against the San Jose Earthquakes at wet and sloppy Buck Shaw Stadium — the rain has not stopped all day — Kreis said it overstated the idea that RSL has modeled itself after the Spanish giants."I think that was a little bit ill-portrayed," he said. "I mean, if you ask me to think of a team that I think our team plays like, I say Barcelona. Now, that's just because it's the most popular team that tends to pass the ball around a lot. They don't play in the same tactical shape as us, they have a lot different personnel than we do. So I don't think it's something I would say we've modeled ourselves after them. That's not true at all. It's just, he asked me a question of who plays most like us and who do I like to watch."So which team does Kreis view as having provided a model for RSL?He has said in the past that he liked to think RSL plays a bit like Spain, in its free-flowing and quick-passing style, and midfielder Andy Williams noted the other day that Kreis seemed to be following the example that the two-time MLS Cup champion Houston Dynamo had set about the time Kreis took over as coach in 2007.But Kreis said RSL is unique."I built this team on this team," he said. "Look at the players, look at the group and say, 'What tactical shape is going to be most successful with them? How do we get the most good players on the field at once? What style of soccer is going to suit us?' So it's really the players who make the choices."