So it is time for Real Salt Lake to get a refresh of their kits, at least new home and away versions, as there will be no new 3rd kit for the 2012 season and no more of the "Victory Gold" kits. This means you will be seeing a lot of the new kits:

(Kyle Beckerman)

It is a kinda unique design and I don't believe that any other MLS teams have a kit designed like this, and to be honest I actually like the design as it brings in a good dose of cobalt. Here is a better look at the jersey:

(Nat Borchers)

As you can see the blue goes down the right side of the jersey and is accented with yellow piping. The shorts are Claret with the RSL crest and 3 yellow Adidas stripes, I like the contrast of this kit and how it looks.

So what about the new road kit? Well more shots of the home kit and your first look at the away kit after the jump:

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Well with 9 players from the 2011 season gone, the 2012 pre-season roster is crowded with some new names and faces, some draft picks, a trade, and some guys on trial. Today we got an update via Twitter that the loan of Yordany Alvarez is now a permanent move to Real Salt Lake, which is a big piece of the puzzle for me a quality younger player who adds some size, some bite, and toughness in the midfield.

RSL will face two issues with the group of draft picks and players in on trial, first is the salary cap and second is international spots. I know that some current RSL players are working on their green cards, as well as several of the guys in camp, but with just 6 slots to use it could be a determining factor as the pre-season goes along.

Here are the guys coming into RSL's pre-season training:

Goalkeepers (3): Lalo Fernandez, Kyle Reynish, Nick Rimando

Defenders (11): Tony Beltran, Samir Bengelloun, Nat Borchers, Leone Cruz, Diogo de Almeida, Wes Knight, Jamison Olave, Chris Schuler, Terukazu Tanaka, Donny Toia, Chris Wingert

Midfielders (12): Yordany Alvarez, Kyle Beckerman, Luis Gil, Ned Grabavoy, Will Johnson, Enzo Martinez, Javier Morales, Nico Muniz, Lewis Neal, Jonny Steele, Benjamin Ubierna, Sebastian Velasquez

Forwards (6): Chris Agorsor, Cody Arnoux, Emiliano Bonfigli, Fabian Espíndola, Paulo Jr., Álvaro Saborío

a number of players are nursing injuries:

MF Kyle Beckerman (R adductor strain), DF Nat Borchers (L quadriceps strain), MF Will Johnson (R adductor strain), MF Javier Morales (L Achilles tendonitis) and FW Álvaro Saborío (R knee microfracture). Johnson and Morales are expected to return to limited training in time for the open of RSL's Scottsdale-based camp next Tuesday.

After the jump you will find the roster as well as some additional bio info on some of the trialists:

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For professional sports teams, the national and local TV deals are valuable revenue streams as well as a way to establish and improve their presence in a local market. While LA was able to leverage their hot local sports property battle and huge name DP's into a multi-million dollar deal, in Salt Lake City the news isn't about the money but it is about establishing a local presence.

In the past most RSL matches that weren't covered by national TV outlets were covered by KMYU 2.2 a sublet of the local CBS network. MLS moved to a new network for the 2012 season that will offer more coverage available to more people and RSL also has a big move to new networks.

First up is the fact that all 30 RSL matches that aren't nationally broadcast will be on local TV, plus each of them will be available in HD. This alone is huge for me, as the matches are much better to watch in HD but we get 10 matches on ABC-4 and 20 matches on CW-30. To me this is incredible news as both channels are available locally over the air and on all cable and satellite providers.

Second up is RSL isn't going to be paying for air time, and while the networks aren't providing any money for the right to broadcast the games, RSL will be in charge of 7/8ths of the advertising.

The third thing that I love is that Bill Riley and Brian Dunseth will both be on the broadcast team, for me having people who are vested in RSL as much as the fans covering the matches is great, these guys know the players, they know the fans and they love the team and organization as much as anyone else out there.

Finally, each match will have either a 30 minute pre or post match show. I love that option as it will help new fans learn more about the team, the players and hopefully help create more new RSL fans. Oh and a bonus as I found out that all 4 of the RSL matches at the Tuscon Cup will be streamed live online. Another bonus, here is a copy of the 2012 RSL schedule with all the TV info.

After the jump you can check out the official press release:

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So since the first announcement of his arrival David Beckham has been a lightning rod of both positive and negative reactions, I mean heck Grant Wahl even got a book out of the thing. I have heard about every argument for and against him over the last 5 years and to be honest very few of the points made on either side hold a lot of weight for me. I try to, like with most things look at both sides of an issue (for me that means as a fan and from the business side of things) and even when I do that again very few of the points in the pro or anti-Beckham camps hold up.

I can however understand why LA Galaxy fans, MLS HQ folks, MLS sponsors, and others think that he is simply the best thing to ever happen to MLS. I can also understand how fans of other teams see him as the poster child for all things wrong with Major League Soccer. After the jump some points that simply can't be argued:

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So without any action on the pitch it is easy to get caught up in either despair or hype about Real Salt Lake, with so many off season losses, 9 players no longer with the team and 8 new names picked up (1 HGP , 6 draft picks, 1 trade).

Now I am never going to claim that we can put the expectations of the players no longer with the team immediately onto the incoming rookies, heck I wouldn't do that with veteran players either. Real Salt Lake plays a rather unique system in MLS where all the players have defensive responsibilities and all of the midfielders are asked to do a combination of both defensive and offensive play making. We have seen that it takes a good part of a year for most experienced players to get up to get on the same "sheet of music" as the rest of the team, and in the past RSL has allowed younger players a couple seasons to catch up.

That isn't going to be the case this year, it was a very fortunate thing that RSL was able to get a player that a lot of experts considered the college player most ready for MLS, and a player who's style matches how RSL plays. I do think that Enzo Martinez is probably going to see more minutes this year than any rookie player has in a long time for RSL, and both of our second round picks could be pleasant surprises but that has yet to be seen. RSL will invite a number of players to camp with them beyond our recent draft picks, we should have a final number and names early next week as the team reports to Salt Lake City for the start of the preseason.

after the jump I take a closer look at who has left RSL and those who will be fighting for those spots:

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Well the first two rounds of the MLS draft took place last week and while many are giving RSL high grades for selecting Enzo Martinez, there are still a lot of questions heading into the pre-season (which for RSL starts next week). Today RSL will finish up their draft by selecting up to 5 players in today's supplemental draft. RSL does have the 6th and 17th pick in the first round of the supplemental draft and I expect that they will look to see if any of the players on their list are still available.

In 2010 RSL picked up Chris Schuler in the 3rd round (which would be the 1st supplemental round) and in 2007 RSL picked up Kyle Reynish in the 4th round of the supplemental draft. The reality is that RSL has been forced to use the draft this year to restock their roster, losing nine players in the off season and with the restrictions of the current salary cap it is likely that more players from the draft will make the final roster than at any time since Kreis/Lagerwey have been in charge.

If you look at the current RSL roster, only Tony Beltran, Chris Schuler, and Kyle Reynish were actually drafted by RSL, as the staff have built the team via trades, international signings, free agents and allocation lotteries. However with salary cap restrictions, and a number of open spots I think it is realistic that RSL might go to camp with at least 7 draft picks and probably 2-3 other players as well. Last year RSL was focused on Champions League in their preseason camp, this year it will be about filling the roster and identifying top talent.

So with the 6th pick in the 1st round of the supplemental draft RSL selects:
Andy Rose:

UNIV. OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES

POSITION Midfielder

HEIGHT 6-2

WEIGHT 170

DATE OF BIRTH 02/13/1990

HOMETOWN Bristol, England

CITIZENSHIP United Kingdom

The rest of the RSL picks after the jump:

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Well I understand that US and Canada aren't the only nations in CONCACAF, you have to admit their timing of announcing huge changes to the Champions League tournament on the same day as the MLS Draft either shows a lack of understanding or a lack of respect. In either case the reality is that MLS teams in both Canada and the United States are waking up to a very different Champions League than what they have faced in the past.

Gone are the qualification matches, now instead of starting the group stages with 16 teams (4 groups of 4) after the qualification matches, all 24 teams will enter the group stages. Now there will be 8 groups with 3 teams each, and only the winner of each group will advance to the knockout rounds. Also each group will have just one US or one Mexican team in it, this means that for US teams the trips could be harder as far as travel to Central America and the Caribbean, but perhaps easier on pitch competition.

The groups will break down like this:

The teams will be distributed into three categories for purposes of the draw as follows:

Category 1: Mexico 1 & 2, USA 1 & 2, Costa Rica 1, Guatemala 1, Honduras 1, Panama 1

Category 2: Mexico 3 & 4, USA 3 & 4, Canada 1, Costa Rica 2, El Salvador 1, Honduras 2

Category 3: Belize 1 (pending approval of suitable stadium), El Salvador 2, Guatemala 2, Nicaragua 1, Panama 2, Caribbean Football Union 1, 2 & 3

So with the rules of just one US or Mexican team in each group we know that RSL will face the top team from either Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, or Panama from Category 1, and then a team from either Belize, El Salvador, or the Caribbean Football Union.

There are also fewer group stage matches, now just 4 matches instead of 6, which could really help the MLS teams out with travel arrangements. The group stage matches will be played between July 31 and ending by October 25. RSL has just 4 league matches in August, 4 in September, and just 2 in October so clearly the busy start of the MLS season will be a good thing as RSL gets a bit of a break during the Champions League schedule.

The four MLS teams heading into CCL action for 2012/13 will be USA 1 - LA Galaxy, USA 2 - Seattle Sounders, USA 3 - Houston Dynamo, and USA 4 - Real Salt Lake.

The official press release after the jump:

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After a crazy day in Kansas City with the MLS draft and everything that goes along with it Real Salt Lake ended the day with 3 new players including a surprise at #17 as Enzo Martinez was still available. Here is a bunch of info from the official RSL press release about the draft:

MIDFIELDER ENZO MARTINEZ HIGHLIGHTS REAL SALT LAKE'S THREE MLS SUPERDRAFT SELECTIONS

2011 College Cup Champion with North Carolina Picked by Claret-and-Cobalt with 17^th Overall Selection;

Utah Side Plucks DF Diogo de Almeida and MF Sebastian Velasquez from Second Round

KANSAS CITY (Thursday, January 14, 2012) - Real Salt Lake kept all three selections in today's 2012 MLS SuperDraft at the Kansas City Convention Center, the Utah side highlighting its picks with the selection of University of North Carolina midfielder and Generation adidas product Enzo Martinez towards the end of the first round (17^th overall). Real Salt Lake closed out its draft day in the second round by plucking Southern Methodist University defender Diogo de Almeida and Spartanburg Methodist College midfielder Sebastian Velasquez with the 24^th and 36^th picks, respectively.

The RSL Technical Staff was more than happy to take the 21-year-old Martinez off the draft board, as the Utah side's braintrust was shocked to see the creative midfielder drop down to the 17^th spot. The Rock Hill, S.C., native has won championships at every level growing through the ranks, most recently as a member of UNC Tarheels, who he helped lead to the 2011 NCAA College Cup title last fall thanks to a nine-goal, 11-assist performance during his junior campaign. During his three seasons in Chapel Hill, Martinez scored 22 goals and assisted on 20 more in 72 appearances (53 starts) in the ultra-competitive Atlantic Coast Conference.

Real Salt Lake's search for a left back of the future might have ended with the selection of Diogo de Almeida, an athletic, left-footed winger out of SMU. After coming off the bench as a forward for the Mustangs during his freshman season and a midfielder the following year, de Almeida found his stride after moving to the backline as a junior in 2010. The accolades and attention began to roll his way shortly thereafter, culminating with his selection as the Conference USA Defender of the Year last fall following a senior season in which the 23-year-old also bagged four goals during his 20 games (19 starts). During his collegiate career, the native of Piricicaba, Brazil, scored nine goals and added three assists in 70 appearances (46 starts).

With the third-to-last pick of today's SuperDraft, Real Salt Lake went for a diamond in the rough in Sebastian Velasquez, a midfielder out of Spartanburg Methodist College, a junior college based in South Carolina. The Greenville, S.C., native, by way of his birthplace of Colombia, was an offensive juggernaut during his two seasons of collegiate ball, notching 20 goals and 17 assists during his freshman campaign (14 games) and bumping the production up to a ridiculous 35 goals and 16 assists last fall as a sophomore (19 games), leading to his selection as a NJCAA Second Team All-American. The 20-year-old Velasquez, who was a teammate of Martinez's at the club level in South Carolina, was recommended to the RSL Technical Staff and impressed enough during the squad's combine last month in Arizona to earn a SuperDraft selection.

A lot more info after the jump:

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