OLYMPIANS BACK ON THE JOB AFTER “REAL” SALT LAKE NIGHTMARE

Olympique Montreux, 3
Salt Lake FC, 0

By Pierre d'estaim
Sports Writer

West Jordan, UT. (Saturday, June 10).--Mike Polich took advantage of some shaky defense to score a first-half goal, and the Olympians cruised to a 3-0 victory Saturday night in the first league game after an utterly poor performance against the Real Salt Lake Reserves team in a scrimmage last Monday at Waterford School.

"Last Monday was savage," forward Todd Miller said. "We made it is so difficult on ourselves.  We did not play for each other."

“We were outclassed by their fitness,” added midfielder Tracy McGuire.

Poor fitness and freelance soccer

The poor showing against RSL left the Olympians questioning their skill level, and wondering what went wrong.

“What went wrong,” Bel-Ami explained, “is that we have been over-confident. Stiffly cocky, feeling that we could just show up and win anytime. Some of the players think they are all stars on the team and that they do not need to be coached, kind of like last year’s Lakers in the NBA. Some of the men do not follow advise from the sideline. And boom! Real Salt Lake forces us to reassess where we are as a team. Players are dead wrong to think they are too good to be coached, that they can freelance, do stepovers and whatever. It just does not work. Or else, Brazil would not need a coach!”

A collective performance

After a good practice last Thursday stressing team work and total soccer, the Olympians came to work this afternoon and got a very good result. Chad Gilbert, a key to OM's unbeaten league run, got the side’s second goal in the 49th minute. After latching on to a pass some 30 yards away from goal, took it on a solo run past the opposition and scored.

OM outshot Salt Lake FC 13-3, with Nate Murphy getting six shots alone.

Salt Lake FC nearly took the lead in the 14th minute, when goalkeeper Chad Evans failed to clear a ball that defender Paul Williams had passed back to him. The Salt Lake FC forward, with only Evans to beat, kicked the ball over the bar and into the cheap seats.

Williams scored in the 64th minute to put the game beyond reach. After that, the Olympians maintain possession of the ball until the final whistle.

"I hope we continue to do a collective job,” Bel-Ami said, "but I think if we do, we probably will not score five, six or seven goals in each game, but we will play well rounded soccer and earn effective wins."

Notes:

On June 3, 2006, Olympique Montreux beat Utah FC, the University of Utah club team, 3-1, with goals by Sergio Vasquez, Chad Gilbert and Nate Murphy. Mauricio Borba, Utah FC's gifted Argentine striker, netted his team's lone goal in the final minutes.

Notes:

Midfielder Jesse Day played solidly for 60 minutes. Day has been injured (ankle) since last winter. A pure left side midfield player, he made his presence felt early with great crosses.

The poor showing against RSL left the Olympians questioning their skill level, and wondering what went wrong.

“What went wrong,” Bel-Ami explained, “is that we have been over-confident. Stiffly cocky, feeling that we could just show up and win anytime. Some of the players think they are all stars on the team and that they do not need to be coached, kind of like last year’s Lakers in the NBA. Some of the men do not follow advise from the sideline. And boom! Real Salt Lake forces us to reassess where we are as a team. Players are dead wrong to think they are too good to be coached, that they can freelance, do stepovers and whatever. It just does not work. Or else, Brazil would not need a coach!”

A collective performance

After a good practice last Thursday stressing team work and total soccer, the Olympians came to work this afternoon and got a very good result. Chad Gilbert, a key to OM's unbeaten league run, got the side’s second goal in the 49th minute. After latching on to a pass some 30 yards away from goal, took it on a solo run past the opposition and scored.

OM outshot Salt Lake FC 13-3, with Nate Murphy getting six shots alone.

Salt Lake FC nearly took the lead in the 14th minute, when goalkeeper Chad Evans failed to clear a ball that defender Paul Williams had passed back to him. The Salt Lake FC forward, with only Evans to beat, kicked the ball over the bar and into the cheap seats.

Williams scored in the 64th minute to put the game beyond reach. After that, the Olympians maintain possession of the ball until the final whistle.

"I hope we continue to do a collective job,” Bel-Ami said, "but I think if we do, we probably will not score five, six or seven goals in each game, but we will play well rounded soccer and earn effective wins."

Notes:

On June 3, 2006, Olympique Montreux beat Utah FC, the University of Utah club team, 3-1, with goals by Sergio Vasquez, Chad Gilbert and Nate Murphy. Mauricio Borba, Utah FC's gifted Argentine striker, netted his team's lone goal in the final minutes.

Notes:

Midfielder Jesse Day played solidly for 60 minutes. Day has been injured (ankle) since last winter. A pure left side midfield player, he made his presence felt early with great crosses.