Another RSL Trade : Klein for Sturgis + Findley?

After the Cunningham trade I thought it was apparent that new head coach Jason Kreis had given up on Real Salt Lake's season. Publicly he was saying that it was a good team that was assembled but in trading away a player who can score 12-18 goals in a season the actions were saying "we're toast; time to rebuild".

If the new trade rumor turns out to be true, it'll further solidify that theory for me. The rumor is that RSL has traded Chris Klein along with some salary cap space to the LA Galaxy for Nathan Sturgis and Robbie Findley. It's hard to say who's getting the better deal on this.

Klein has seemed to struggle at times this year. But it's hard to make too much of that given how poorly those around him have played. He brings a veteran presence and a midfielder who can score 5 - 10 goals and the same with assists.

Sturgis looks to have a lot of talent that already has him looking like a decent MLS player. It could be that Kreis sees him as a replacement for Eddie Pope (he plays as a center back for the US U-20s). Robbie Findley, well, he's got talent but I have yet to see anything out of him that would give me reason to think he's going to make it. The MLS' history is full of players like Findley that come in with a lot of promise and stick around for a few years until they've shown they're not going to cut it.

As to which side got the better deal, the devil will be in the detail. It could be that both sides got the better. Findley could start to settle in and turn into a nice sub that nabs some late goals for RSL. Sturgis could end up giving RSL's midfield some bite. And Klein could help give LA some badly needed offense on the cheap. There's no reason their has to be a winner and a loser. The one thing we can be sure of is that in bringing in a vet RM like Klein, Yallop is committed to playing David Beckham in the middle of the park.