We are now on the threshold of Real Salt Lake’s first competitive match of the 2016 season as RSL takes on Tigres UANL in the Quarterfinal Round of CONCACAF Champions League in the first match of the two-legged, aggregate-goal series starting Wednesday in Monterrey, Mexico.
To help prepare for the new season, we at RSL.com will take a look at the team one position group at a time in the days leading up to the match and after already previewing the goalkeepers and defenders, we now take a look at the midfield corps for the Claret-and-Cobalt.
Midfielders: Kyle Beckerman, Javier Morales, Sunday “Sunny” Stephen Obayan, Luke Mulholland, Jordan Allen, Omar Holness, John Stertzer, Danilo Acosta, Fito Ovalle
Over the course of the last nine seasons, Real Salt Lake has had a pair of gems in its midfield in Kyle Beckerman and Javier Morales. In that tandem, RSL has had one of the best holding midfielders in league history who last year broke the MLS record for matches played by a field player and one of the best attacking midfielders in league history who is 12th all-time in MLS with 77 assists.
“It’s unbelievable. It really is,” RSL Head Coach Jeff Cassar said when asked about the longevity of the duo in RSL’s midfield.
They won the 2009 MLS Cup together. They also reached finals in three other tournaments and kept RSL among the top teams in the league.
But now in RSL’s second year of transition into the 4-3-3 formation they serve equally vital roles in making the midfield work. However, Cassar is now blessed with a newfound versatility in his selection of the player that shares the midfield with those two stellar veterans.
Sunday Stephen Obayan has experience in Spain’s first division and played in big games for club and country when he logged time at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup with Spain. His aggressive defensive posture mixes well with Beckerman in creating a tandem of holding midfielders in support of Morales.
Luke Mulholland has shown an ability to pile up goal and assist totals from RSL’s midfield with six goals and seven assists in his first MLS campaign in 2014 and has more of a box-to-box mentality in the position. His existing chemistry and ability to get forward as an extra attacker gives Cassar a different type of freedom with the role.
John Stertzer plays in more of a sitting role as well, serving as a solid connector to transition the team from defense into attack. And in Jordan Allen, Omar Holness, Danilo Acosta and Fito Ovalle, Cassar has a slew of young players that can fill in and make great contributions as well.
“We’re going to be able to put different players in these positions and have small different outcomes. Not everybody plays the position the exact same way,” Cassar said. “If we can add their characteristics into the position and still know all the responsibilities that they need to, that’s how you can get tactically different and show some different formations and different movements with still everybody on the same page of what their responsibilities are.”
No matter which route he chooses, though, he will always have the veteran pair of Beckerman and Morales to serve as coaches on the field as the team continues to develop in the formation.
