Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis isn’t happy about playing a crucial Western Conference game at Rio Tinto Stadium on Friday against Vancouver two days after Wednesday’s MLSAll-Star Game in Philadelphia. He’s particularly concerned about its affect on midfielder Kyle Beckerman.
“[The All-Star game] just doesn’t mean much to me, to bevery honest,” Kreis said. “It’s all about our team and not individual players.”
Kreis is worried about RSL captain Beckerman’s 4 1/2-hour flight from Philadelphia to Salt LakeCity on Thursday, then more air time during the turnaround from Friday to Tuesday’s Champions League game at Costa Rica.
“A couple of weeks ago, we looked at it and said, ‘Is itreally a good thing for our players to be going?’ ” said Kreis, who favors an idea of players receiving a break if they face league games directly on the heels of the All-Star fest. They’dstill receive the bonus for playing, but would not be part of the active squad. “Something like that would have been good to consider. But I also know it’s an important event for the league.”