Javier Morales has been overwhelmingly good this week for RSL
They say that the midfield is everything in soccer.
Javier Morales has certainly been doing his part to prove that old adage true this week. After virtually single-handedly resurrecting Real Salt Lake’s Open Cup campaign midweek, he was instrumental in the team’s 2-1 victory over Sporting Kansas City on Sunday night.
After a snoozer of a draw against the Colorado Rapids at home two weeks ago, things were looking pretty dire for RSL’s season. Injuries and international callups had wreaked havoc on the lineup, consistency was tough to come by, and Real’s attack was really sputtering at that point.
And on Tuesday night, down 1-0 to the USL Seattle Sounders 2 in an Open Cup match at halftime, things didn’t seem like they were going to turn around anytime soon. Although RSL was slowly getting its attacking players back onto the pitch, things weren’t particularly coherent; the team was struggling to find effective outlets on the transition and hitting too many vertical balls.
Defensively, things actually seemed to be getting worse. With Chris Schuler and Jamison Olave out with injuries, Elias Vasquez unable to get back into the U.S. because of a bureaucratic issue after international duty, and Justen Glad leaving the Open Cup match in the first half after a concussion scare, the team was literally down to two center backs — Aaron Maund and Phanuel Kavita.
Something happened in that second half on Tuesday, and it happened again on Sunday against SKC — Javier Morales turned up.
Whether it was scoring himself, putting his teammates in good positions to score, or peppering the opponent’s goal with well-taken set pieces, the Argentine playmaker seemed to be everywhere. Though his teammates were putting in effort, Morales’ quality was the difference-maker that had been missing.
After coming from behind to defeat S2 and move on in the Open Cup, Real came out against Kansas City with more urgency than they had in weeks. The execution was far from perfect against Sporting — a bevy of missed chances in the first half nearly came back to haunt RSL in the end — but Jeff Cassar’s side actually looked dangerous against one of the better sides in the Western Conference.
Perhaps most importantly, Real got goal production from two strikers who have struggled mightily this season — Sebastian Jaime and Olmes Garcia. Although Garcia’s last-gasp strike was deflected into the net and not a direct strike, it’s a promising sign for the young Colombian.
With two matches scheduled again this week (on the road at Red Bull New York and home against the Columbus Crew), what can RSL look to do in order to build on an important three points Sunday?
First, the transition game continues to require improvement — take Morales’ lead and look for smart diagonal balls rather than simply booting the ball forward at the likes of 5’2″ Joao Plata.
Second, work on set pieces. Real had far too many chances against Kansas City that yielded nothing — with Alvaro Saborio gone (for personal reasons), Jaime and Devon Sandoval need to literally get their heads on some of those corner kicks and free kicks.
Third, find a way to get motivated internally. RSL’s play picked up significantly in both matches this week once the players got angry. At the injury rate Real is going this season, they can’t wait for someone to get kicked in order to get mad and start playing.
Yes, Morales is a great player to lean on, and this week has demonstrated how critical he is to RSL’s success. However, he can’t be everything to the team — if Real wants to mount a serious run at a playoff spot, they’ll need more than one individual doing most of the playmaking.
