Real Salt Lake has had quite a week.
A 2-0 loss on the road in Vancouver was followed by yet another draw at home on Saturday — this time, it was a 0-0 result against the New England Revolution. Somehow, the front office managed to overshadow all of that with a massive press-related own goal that’s drawing ire from around the country.
Well, if the intent was to divert attention from the results on the pitch, it worked — to a certain extent. The LA Galaxy leapfrogged over RSL in the Western Conference standings over the weekend, but much of the national attention is being aimed at press credentials and the front office rather than Real’s struggles since the Copa America break earlier this summer.
Mid-season slumps aren’t necessarily the worst thing ever to happen in MLS. Throughout league history, plenty of “successful” seasons — including RSL’s own 2009 MLS Cup-winning run — have looked pretty bleak in August, only to be turned around in the fall.
The problem is that Real doesn’t look close to making a breakthrough right now. While RSL managed to shake off the sluggishness that characterized its draw with Montreal the weekend before, it didn’t have as much of an impact on the outcome of either of the week’s matches as Jeff Cassar would have liked.
Against New England, Nick Rimando and the back four finally got a long-coveted shutout, keeping Kei Kamara and Lee Nguyen at bay after a deflected own goal and a Cristian Techera wondergoal doomed the team at Vancouver. However, at the other end of the pitch, Real failed to score at all against either team, despite having good spells of possession and moving the ball around well in both games.
As Luke Mulholland mentioned last week, predictability is one of the biggest issues RSL faces at the moment. Teams are able to tactically prepare for a visit to the Riot knowing exactly what Real will throw at them, and most critically, execute those plans quite well. Opponents can keep the center of the pitch well-defended with numbers knowing that the pace of play won’t be too quick for them, and without dynamic off-the-ball runs, it’s very difficult to break them down at the top of the 18.
Lack of depth is also an ongoing problem. Right now, Jordan Allen is the only real impact sub that Cassar can bring off the bench, and he’s being used at multiple positions for that very reason. His continued development, as well as that of Justen Glad, is one of the most positive aspects of RSL’s season so far. Allen could really benefit from finding a consistent position and a veteran mentor to help him learn its nuances, however — and with Javier Morales showing some signs of slowing down this season, the creative midfielder slot could be a great opportunity for both Allen and the team.
On the other hand, many of Real’s longer-tenured reserve players seem to be stagnating. Olmes Garcia and Devon Sandoval haven’t been making the progress that would make them seriously competitive for starting positions, and Sandoval was loaned out Rayo OKC for the remainder of the season. John Stertzer seems to be in a similar position — Mulholland was the obvious choice to replace the injured Sunny in midfield, while rookie Omar Holness is beginning to take on more of the backup duties.
The depth issues have several ramifications for the team. First, there’s little internal competition for first-team places — there aren’t many immediate consequences for players who aren’t performing well. Second, without much firepower on the bench, there’s little room for Cassar to make substantial tactical substitutions mid-match. Finally, with the jammed schedule, squad rotation becomes much more difficult — RSL’s older players can’t play three games in a week, but there aren’t really any great options for replacing them, either.
This week is unlikely to be much kinder in terms of fixtures. There won’t be any travel, but a friendly with Inter Milan on Tuesday, followed by a Friday night Western Conference showdown with the San Jose Earthquakes will keep the team on its proverbial toes.
Right now, the players look tired both mentally and physically — the inability to score during the run of play has got to be wearing on them. Scoring a goal or two, however, would probably do wonders for their collective fatigue.
Everyone associated with the club — players, fans, coaches, front office — will be hoping that something changes quickly. And not in a “Wag the Dog” sort of way.
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