The Second Coming of Kreis

I was confused on Tuesday morning, which is nothing out of the ordinary. But I was scratching my head with particular vigor because I couldn't quite understand how head coach John Ellinger still had a job after an ugly defeat on Monday night for his Real Salt Lake team against the rival Colorado Rapids. And the Rapids weren't just rivals: one of their players, Pablo Mastroeni, had even gotten into a screaming match with Dave Checketts, Real's owner following a match last season.

In other words, it was a must-win game.

But Tuesday morning came and went. No word from Salt Lake. Chelsea and Man U came and went. Still no word from Salt Lake.

But today, we got a bombshell: Jason Kreis, the Real capitan and all-time MLS leading goalscorer, was retiring as a player to take over as head coach.

It's a decision I have a tough time understanding. Yes, it was time for Ellinger to go-- he made too many mistakes in his MLS career (from taking talented, but not ready for Primetime Nik Basagno with his first pick in 2005, to trading away all-important allocations, to... not protecting key player Jason Kreis in the expansion draft this year and needing to use a partial allocation to get him back) and his team this year seemed to perform well below the collective level of its luxurious pieces.

But I have a feeling that success for RSL needs to consist of more than a resolution to "make fewer mistakes": I think they need an experienced, tactically adept coach who can actually make something of the disparate pieces. Is Kreis that guy? He seems like a smart guy-- and always was a smart player, but you wonder if he's going to have the tools to do this job.

And I'm also disappointed to see one of the league's all-time greats go out this way. Critics will point out that Kreis never really made it with the US national team as proof that he really wasn't that great in the first place (although his supporters might also point out that he didn't really have too many chances...) I'd sidestep that debate: Kreis's skillset was ideal for hot days in Dallas: not fast, but quick-thinking, with a good eye for players making precious runs and a cannon shot when tired defenders hesitated on closing him down. He could be absolutely deadly-- and I'm a little sad that he won't add to his 108 goals. An exciting, if unusual, race was developing: two slowing down MLS stars, Jaime Moreno and Kreis battling for the all-time goal lead. They were racing not just each other, but the end of their playing careers. With guys like Razov and Cunningham not far behind (not too mention younger guys like Twellman and Ruiz), it's possible the any victory in this battle would have been purely Pyrrhic. But definitely, a part of me wanted to see Moreno and Kreis duke it out for at least one more year.

Kreis deserves credit for a great MLS career-- and for being an American goalscorer during a period when all of the leaders were imported. It's a shame RSL couldn't send him off with a victory, but perhaps inevitable, considering the circumstances of his retirement. All you can do is wish this true class act all the best, as he starts work on the Sisyphean task of making RSL less sucky.