Real Salt Lake returned to Utah on Friday after 12 days in the desert in Arizona and with just a few off days before the next preseason trip to Portland, it gave the team a chance to rest and recover after a rigorous stretch that saw 10 training sessions and three matches.
Upon concluding the trip with a 1-1 draw against the San Jose Earthquakes on Friday with two different groups playing 45 minutes each, Head Coach Jeff Cassar was happy with what he had seen from his club through the first phase of training camp.
“Overall, we’re really pleased,” Cassar said.
During the training sessions, RSL focused much of their work on the defensive side of the ball. After allowing just one goal through the first 270 minutes of action – which also included matches against Croatian side NK Istra and the New York Red Bulls – those efforts paid off.
Three of the primary goals included building fitness, establishing the style of play – particularly on the defensive side – and integrating new players into the club while also dealing with the absences of Nick Rimando with the U.S. National Team, Omar Holness with Jamaica and Justen Glad, Sebastian Saucedo and Danilo Acosta with the U.S. U-20 National Team. With new additions like Albert Rusnak, Chad Barrett, David Horst, Luis Silva and Matt VanOekel, there is a stable of players ready to step in and make an impact, so their inclusion with the team has been paramount in the early stages.
In two games in Tucson against MLS opponents, the whole team displayed some of the cohesion, even if the sharpness that comes with more offensive work wasn’t quite there yet. That was encouraging to Cassar, who liked the progress in the club’s playing style, even while knowing that the nearly four weeks before the regular season opener on March 4 against Toronto FC is approaching faster by the day.
“In both games we saw a lot of the things that we’ve been working on during training. Both were great exercises for us. They were competitive. We need to get fitter, but that’s expected. We got out of here relatively injury free, so this first camp has been nothing but positive,” Cassar said. “But we can’t get complacent. We’ve got to continue to work on what we’ve started to build and get better in every aspect.”
Next up for RSL will be a trip to Portland, which will feature matches against the Portland Timbers (February 9), Vancouver Whitecaps (February 12) and Minnesota United (February 15). After a solid stint in Arizona, Cassar looks to continue that progress in the Rose City.
“Our training sessions were fantastic and the commitment from the guys is unbelievable. A lot of credit has to go to the amount of work that they put in,” he said. “In Portland, we’re going to continue to build on what we’ve done and also get three really meaningful games and start to build our game fitness.”
