Checketts on the State of RSL and MLS

• Deseret Morning News, Thursday, September 27, 2007 5 PM

In an interview with the Deseret Morning News, Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts says first-year coach Jason Kreis has done about as well as he could possibly do, given the circumstances. Kreis took over for John Ellinger after four games. RSL is 5-11-6 under Kreis and won't make the playoffs for the third straight year.

Checketts said Kreis was laying the foundation for a very good future at RSL. "He has this ability to work that is very much like my own," Checketts told the Deseret Morning News. "I like people who work really, really hard and stay at things until they figure them out. It's not easy what he's gone through at all, but he has an insatiable appetite for knowledge and learning, and he's asking for help and guidance, and asking questions."

On a league-wide level, Checketts says there are a lot of positives -- beginning with ESPN's involvement -- but he adds that there are "some real rough spots," pointing to less-than-full stadiums and stadium issues in Kansas City and New York. He adds that he is "still not sure about the level of officiating and the consistency of officiating." As for the stadium to be built in Sandy, he says it's the best location anywhere in soccer in the U.S.

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