Real Salt Lake by the Numbers - week 23 edition

I will try to look at different types of numbers each week as we head towards the playoffs. So fun stuff and I hope the guys keep working their asses off because it is paying off on the pitch.

The reality is that his playing time has been down and so his numbers are down, but not that much. Remember he missed a few matches for the World Cup and now we find out that he has been sick for two weeks (he must have ate or drank something in Mexico City). But lets take a closer look at the numbers:
Alvaro Saborio, 8 goals and 4 assists in 1452 minutes of playing time (1 goal every 181 minutes, 1 assist every 363 minutes)
Fabian Espindola, 6 goals, 2 assists in 1285 minutes played (1 goal every 214 minutes, 1 assist every 642 minutes played)
Javier Morales, 6 goals, 7 assists in 1713 minutes played (1 goal every 285 minutes, 1 assist every 245 minutes played)
Robbie Findley, 5 goals, 3 assists in 1020 minutes played (1 goal every 204 minutes, 1 assist every 340 minutes played)

A number of people have questioned his work rate, his dedication to the team (since the rumors of offers from Europe have surfaced) and other reason, but I say it is about minutes played, quality strikers tend to score more when they play more. You also have to factor in that after a World Cup run for Robbie and RSL’s MLS Cup win that it is impossible for him to fly under the radar of opposing teams, everyone knows who he is and they adjust how they play when he is in. I don’t think the partnership with Saborio has been as effective as it should be so far this season but hopefully we will see better things as the season progresses.

higher expectations, we have seen Robbie do some big things at various moments that we tend to expect him to do it each time. I do laugh a bit when he like all strikers misses a one on one shot and the fans go crazy, but when Fabi does the same thing they don’t react. I find some humor when fans get upset at him when he is offside, but they have no problem when Javi gets fouled and just lays on the pitch throwing a mini-tantrum.

Fans will always have favorites and those they expect more of. We have seen it over the years with Andy, Jason as both player and coach, heck even I had never thought much of Chris Wingert, but I will give credit where it is due and I think WIngert has really stepped up his game this year and I have been impressed. If Robbie should find the back of the net a couple times during the final few matches, people will once again cheer.