Real Salt Lake demonstrated on Sunday night why the team simply wasn’t playoff-caliber this season, as an embarrassing opening 20 minutes for RSL led to a 3-1 loss at Seattle.
Although Real had already been eliminated from playoff contention, a midweek win in the CONCACAF Champions League meant the team came in with at least a little momentum. Moreover, the individual players had plenty to play for and ought to have been motivated to prove themselves.
Coach Jeff Cassar made some interesting decisions, leaving several starters at home in Salt Lake and going with a cobbled-together lineup. Kyle Beckerman was suspended through yellow card accumulation, while Joao Plata was held out with a hamstring injury. Nick Rimando and Demar Phillips were also left at home, while Luke Mulholland was held on the bench as a substitute.
At the outset of the match, most of the players didn’t look like they were playing for any of the reasons they ought to have been motivated: for their jobs, for their coach, for each other, or for pride. Rather, they looked like they were trying to outdo last year’s season-ending 5-0 drubbing at the hands of the LA Galaxy.
RSL sustained a total defensive collapse on Seattle’s first goal, just five minutes in, losing every individual battle in the sequence that led to the goal. Real was simply too slow on Seattle’s second goal — there were plenty of numbers back but RSL couldn’t adjust quickly at all and Pappa had too much time to pick his shot. Finally, Real lost the ball in the midfield, and Seattle’s speed in transition killed RSL on the third goal.
Although it could have gotten worse, it didn’t get much better for Real at that point, either; RSL didn’t have a shot on goal during the entire first half. At halftime, defender Tony Beltran said in a televised interview that the team’s effort was “pathetic”, and Real was left to salvage the final 45 minutes of its season.
In fact, RSL did look better in the second half, but the bar had been set pretty low at that point. As Seattle coach Sigi Schmid began to make substitutions, the match changed, particularly after Osvaldo Alonso came off. Luis Gil, making a rare start, managed to pull a goal back for Real in the 77th minute; it was RSL’s first shot on goal of the match.
In some ways, the match was a fitting end to the season, as it was a microcosm of RSL’s 2015 campaign: a poor start marked by a lack of mental discipline; failing to win the 2nd and 3rd balls; getting beat on transition; a lack of speed of play; and a too-little-too-late valiant effort at the end of the match.
Real managed to get a victory over Municipal on Tuesday in CCL play at home, winning 1-0 on a rare corner kick goal and at least closing out the home campaign on a high note. RSL will play Mexican side Tigres in the quarterfinals next February and March.
However, as Real misses out on the playoffs for the first time since 2007, there’s scant consolation in waiting until then to play a meaningful match once again, particularly when the season ended in such a spectacular collapse.
