Real Salt Lake is back in the desert in Casa Grande, Arizona, and the second day saw the competition start to heat up.
On a rainy first day, RSL went through fitness testing led by new Director of Physical Performance Henry Ruggiero. The second day the sun was out and the team went through its first of many two-a-days during the preseason calendar.
In the morning session, they went through a series of drills with the ball to emphasize different aspects of play that were then put to the test ultimately in a series of 7v7 games on short fields. Among those to shine in the morning session were Real Monarchs forwards Amet Ramirez and Chandler Hoffman – part of a group of 10 players signed to the Monarchs who will be with RSL through the early stages of training camp.
The evening session saw more short-sided games and drills focused on the defensive side of the ball as RSL continues its progression through the first stage of preseason.
“We wanted to work in the first part in Casa Grande on who we want to be defensively. We want to play with much more energy and higher up the field. We are working on defending, but what we’re finding out is that it’s actually leading to a lot of offense, which is great,” RSL Head Coach Jeff Cassar said. “We’ve been working on pressing for the first two days. Then the middle of the field, then deep defending and finish with an intrasquad scrimmage.”
RSL will be back on the field for two training sessions on Wednesday. More to come at RSL.com.
