Harris to mid? Not so good

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), May 28, 2006 | by Dan Rasmussen Deseret Morning News

Seven days earlier, RSL coach John Ellinger made a number of smart tactical changes to turn Real's fortunes around against Kansas City.

With his team losing 1-0 to Colorado at halftime on Saturday afternoon, Ellinger decided to roll the dice again. He moved Atiba Harris, who was making his fifth start at forward, to a holding- midfield position.

The results?

Not so good.

The move wasn't disastrous -- Real salvaged a 2-2 draw -- but Harris picked up a red card for a pair of yellow cards and the switch didn't pan out at all the way Ellinger had envisioned.

"I think maybe his spot's forward," joked defensive midfielder Carey Talley.

Against Colorado, Salt Lake kept the same formation it used during the second half of its come-from-behind win over Kansas City - - a 4-3-3. Harris was the point man up top, with Jason Kreis and Chris Klein playing wide of him. Mehdi Ballouchy roamed in midfield, with Kenny Cutler and Talley both occupying defensive-midfield spots.

According to Ellinger, two things factored into the decision to slot Harris into midfield after the first half -- Cutler was injured and RSL wanted to bring forward Jeff Cunningham on.

"We're down by a goal and trying to keep Atiba on the field," said Ellinger. "He actually played holding midfield for St. Kitts National Team, for U-23s. So it's not like it's foreign to him. . . . Having (Cutler) go out, we still wanted to keep somewhat of a two holding-midfielder system in there. And that was the decision there to get Jeff on."

However, while that may be Harris' natural position, he hasn't been there at all this season. And, so far, Harris has been prone to yellow yards.

Entering Saturday afternoon's match, he had accumulated four yellow cards, which tied him for the league lead.

He picked one up for a bad tackle in the 54th minute, but the caution didn't seem to slow him down. He continued to lunge into challenges, making a number of slide tackles.

That caught up to him in the 82nd minute. After a Colorado player had already released the ball, Harris slid late into the player.

"The ball was there to be won," said Harris, "and if I let the guy go, it would've been a counter, so I had no choice."

Center referee Colin Tait, who was refereeing his first MLS game, sent Harris off with his second yellow card, and 10-man Salt Lake fell behind 2-1 three minutes later.

"Basically, it was just his job to be around (Clint Mathis) to clean things up," said Talley. "Unfortunately, he had a couple of bad tackles and got thrown out of the game."

Salt Lake escaped with a point when Jason Kreis equalized in the 88th minute, but it appears unlikely Harris will be back in midfield anytime soon.

"I think it was a good idea," said Harris, "but then I got the red card."

E-mail: drasmussen@desnews.com