A day after the dust had settled and the jockstraps had been washed in the wake of Wednesday's draw, Real Salt Lake coach John Ellinger was in a surprisingly talkative and chipper mood.
He talked candidly about his jockstrap comment, which was targeted at a few players in particular, not the whole team. He laughed about trying to motivate an unnamed lethargic player by having midfielder Kenny Cutler warm up intensely just a few minutes into the game — a ploy he said worked.
"I'm not as dumb as I look," joked Ellinger.
Ellinger also reminisced about Carey Talley's unbelievable goal, which was named ESPN SportsCenter's top play of the day on Wednesday.
He also joked that the average age of this Saturday's defensive starters would likely be significantly younger than Wednesday's lineup, which can mean only one thing: Douglas Sequeira is getting benched.
All jokes aside, Ellinger reiterated that he still believes in his group of players, but with 13 games remaining, they're running out of time to make believers out of the fans and the rest of the league.
"Eventually we're going to have 11 guys on the field who make all the right choices, it really is," said Ellinger. "Whether it's the same group of 11, or part of that group. Eventually everyone's going to be on the same page and doing the same things."
It's all about making better choices.
While many fans on the "Fire Ellinger" bandwagon may dispute it, RSL has a game plan going into every game. On Wednesday, just four days after losing a game by allowing a goal in stoppage time, the No. 1 thing on Ellinger's list was, "find ways to get points at the end of games, not give them up."
So how did the players respond? They surrendered a goal in stoppage time for the second straight game, enabling Chivas USA to salvage a 3-3 draw.
"It's not like we don't address these things; it's a matter of execution," said Ellinger.
Better choices, particularly in stoppage time, might've prevented the goal.
Substitute Atiba Harris could've made a better decision about time wasting late in the game. Defender Kevin Novak could've done a better job on Chivas' Jesse Marsch during the sequence that led to his game-tying assist. An intentional foul, which could have led to a second yellow card, might've been a better option than getting beaten. Sequeira could've been much better on that sequence as well by not diving in recklessly on Marsch, and instead defending from his feet.
Those weren't the only type of choices Ellinger was harping about. Several times in the second half Ellinger was shouting at his big-name forwards and midfielders to hustle back defensively after an attack broke down.
"It comes down to choices . . . if you're tired, do you choose to run back or do you choose to jog back," said Ellinger.
Sometimes the players sprint back, sometimes they jog back, and it's that inconsistency that's so maddening to fans, players and coaches alike.
With the league's top team, D.C. United, coming to town on Saturday, Real better find a way to make the right decisions; otherwise another loss seems inevitable.
E-mail: jedward@desnews.com