By Ridge Mahoney
When Davy Arnaud brushed past him to set up a goal for Josh Wolff in the fifth minute of Real Salt Lake’s game against Kansas City last weekend, Carey Talley again felt a dreaded sense of déjà vu.
For the third straight game, Salt Lake had fallen behind early. For a team locked in a playoff battle for the first time in its short history, this isn’t good.
“It’s been addressed at every practice and before every game and somehow we still start off slow,” says Talley, one of several veterans acquired by Coach John Ellinger in the offseason after a disastrous expansion year of just five wins. “Teams are coming at us thinking they can get an early goal.”
As it has done several times this season, unlike last year, Real rallied. A pair of goals by Atiba Harris brought a 2-1 lead before Real fell behind again, 3-2. A late goal by Jason Kreis, one of the few 2005 starters retained by Ellinger, brought a point that left Real two points back of fourth-place Colorado with two games to play.
By adding Talley, Chris Klein, Scott Garlick, and Jeff Cunningham to a small but vital nucleus of Eddie Pope and Kreis, Ellinger has masterminded a remarkable turnaround. Cunningham’s career-high production of 16 goals and 10 assists is the most obvious factor, yet veteran experience has carried RSL through a rough 0-5-1 start and the absence of Pope during the World Cup to the brink of a playoff spot.
“That was the logic behind it, to bring in guys who’ve been around the league and won games and been in the playoffs,” says Ellinger, who finished 2005 with a 12-game winless streak. “They give us that on-field, off-field leadership.”
Talley has played for D.C. United, Kansas City and Dallas yet finds his current team unique. “I think half our starters are over 30 years old,” he says. “I don’t think I’ve ever played on a team like that. But usually it’s the veteran players who come through.
“Landon Donovan‘s a special case, he can certainly do it with a few moments of brilliance, but he can do that because he has older guys around him. I can say that now that I’m one of them.”
Talley started the season at center back but was moved into central midfield as Ellinger tinkered with personnel and formations. He’d mainly been a right back at D.C. United and had played several positions for Dallas and Kansas City.
“Maybe I was getting caught between positions and thinking way too much,” he said of his time in central defense. “When I went into midfield I found a comfort zone and had some production, so yeah, I can say I like holding midfielder better.”
The production of two goals and seven assists includes a long-range blast against Chivas and a nifty chip that set up the league’s top scorer. “I think with Jeff it’s just maturity,” says Talley. “He’s had a few brilliant individual goals but he’s also been on the end of some pretty nice passes that have slotted him on breakaways.”
Talley was one of several players who called Cunningham immediately after the striker stormed out of a training session last month. “We just told him to relax and not do or say anything just because he was mad,” said Talley. “He came back in the next game and produced.”
Ellinger, while pleased at the team’s play the second half of the season, is wary of any sense of accomplishment just yet. “My message now is, ‘The job isn’t over,'” he says. “We still have work to do.”