365 Q&A With Brian Dunseth

[Newkidontheblock]

From Soccer365:

http://www.soccer365.com/_365_Interviews/page_123_97735.shtml

365 Q&A With Brian Dunseth 12/05/05

Soccer365’s Lars Lifrak caught up with Real Salt Lake defender Brian Dunseth to discuss succeeding with an expansion team, game night in Utah and the tough side of trades.

Soccer 365: Six games in, how do you think the season is going?
Brian Dunseth: It’s been up and down. I think we started on a high note on the road drawing 0-0 in New York. We sort of had a few steps and bumbles along the way, but I think we’re starting to put it together. We’re creating good chances for ourselves and we’re not giving up as many chances as we have been.

365: With an expansion team, you are expected to lose in most sports, but that might be different in the MLS. How good do you think you guys can be?
BD: I think we’re a lot better than what our record shows. We’ve had a bit of an injury bug lately but it’s something where as a new team you’ve got to work the kinks out, but I think that’s what we’re doing right now.

365: So what needs to improve?
BD: I think we need to do a better job of limiting other team’s chances and creating as many chances for ourselves as possible. At the same time a little luck will help along the way, and if we can stay as healthy as possible, that’s the most important thing for any team.

365: In a best case scenario, what is the best style for this team to have, offensive minded or defensive?
BD: I think we have the qualities to be both. I think with a guy like Eddie Pope in the back and Brian Kamler, you can look right up our spine, we have Andy Williams, Clint Mathis, Jason Kreis, these are big name players, so I think the offensive power is there. It’s just a matter of putting together a full ninety minutes and I think that’s something that, with the exception of two games, we’ve sort of lacked. We’ve put together a good sixty or seventy minute run, but we haven’t really put together the perfect game yet.

365: What about soccer in Salt Lake? There is excitement now, but what about long term? How easy will it be to sustain it?
BD: I think it’s very easy. The fans there are very educated. The market, besides the Utah Jazz, there’s not much, besides the college. The interest is there. Everyday you look out and you see television cameras at practice, you’re on the radio, you are constantly doing something. They’ve really opened up their arms and taken us in. Right now, sports wise, there’s really no competition between us and anyone else. That market is an exciting market to be in and when you have 25 or 26,000 people at a game, that’s a great little buzz and hopefully we can maintain it.

365: And do you get a sense when you are not on the field that people are kind of excited about it at this point?
BD: Oh yeah. People come up to you all the time. They know who you are. It’s an educated group up there. Everyone knows the name Real, it’s stuck, it’s done well. If you watch the news every single night there’s always something going on, so the buzz is out there and it’s just a matter of us, not just living up to the hype, but putting our faces with that name and sort of sticking with it.

365: You personally, I know have played for several different teams. How do you look at it? Do you just go season by season?
BD: I played four years on one team and two years on another. I got traded two seasons ago and I went to Europe and played in Sweden. So for me coming back was a no brainer. I was with John Ellinger and Peter Mellor, these were guys who were my Olympic team coaches, so for me it was an easy situation rather than going back overseas. It’s one of those where I think everyone on our team is an outcast in some way, shape, or form and we all know that. And none of us want to pack up and move again. It’s the nature of the business sometimes, but if you can get that little mean streak inside you that says screw this, I’m not moving again, I’m going to make sure that this place is my home, than it’s sort of easy to focus on practice.

365: We like to end it on a light note; when you were in Sweden, what was the thing you missed most about the United States?
BD: Being over there and missing food, like the restaurants, the Cheesecake Factories, the things like that. I don’t miss the reindeer sandwiches and black bear soup that’s for sure. But it’s and experience all the same and I had a great time while I was there and I’m pretty thankful for the opportunity.

365: Thanks Brian.
BD: No problem.

[HibaIssa]

Thanks for that 🙂

[AreliusII]

everyone on our team is an outcast in some way, shape, or form

Hmmm. Interesting.

[montgjules]

I've thought a lot about this. These guys were, for the most part, stuck in Utah without being consulted. What IS their motivation to even care about our team? It's just another job. Right?

[Deuce]

Ewwwwww!
Reindeer Sandwichs and Black Bear Soup!

Ewwwwwww Again!!!!

[Newkidontheblock]

Originally Posted by montgjules

I've thought a lot about this. These guys were, for the most part, stuck in Utah without being consulted. What IS their motivation to even care about our team? It's just another job. Right?

Well then, I guess it is our job to make them care about this team. Our enthusiasm will rub off 😉

[Stucki]

They do seem to play harder and better in front of the cheering throngs of Loyalists and little people.

[Aerick]

His comments about being noticed and being appreciated on a larger scale than the other MLS markets should speak volumes. I think being "stuck in Utah" can be an "allright, I'm going to Utah!!" if a normally underappreciated athlete feels appreciated here.

We're more educated (present company excluded 😉 ), and so we appreciate their sport, and their abilities more than another typical MLS market. We also have a lack of other options - especially right now - so we appreciate the option they bring as well. Lastly, my feeling is that Utah fans, of whatever sport, tend to be fiercly loyal - and that's got to be a positive. This probably stems from the fact that we want to shake off the "backwoods, hillbilly, no-nothing-about-sports, nobody" label we, as Utahns, seem to get pegged with often. So, when our teams look good, and compete at the highest levels, with the "big boys", it's kind of an "I told you so" for the rest of the country.

I think I rambled...