As debuts go, it would be hard to ask for more than Real Salt Lake got from Juan Manuel Martinez in his first start in the Claret-and-Cobalt on Saturday in a 3-1 win over the Houston Dynamo. RSL has had its struggles in the state of Texas – and on the road in general this year – but all calmed down with Martinez on the field and RSL put together a strong performance in a crucial match as Salt Lake looks to fight its way back into the playoff picture.
Martinez finished the match with a goal, scoring the third, back-breaking goal in the victory, but his aggressive play in the attack set up both of the first two goals for RSL as Javier Morales and Devon Sandoval both got on the scoresheet on putback attempts from saved Martinez shots.
RSL Head Coach Jeff Cassar, for one, was impressed with how well he integrated himself with the team.
“When it would get to him, it would be a calming presence on the ball, and good decision-making. I thought he looked to combine with all the players in the attack,” Cassar said after the match. I think he's a competitor. He's won championships with the other clubs he's played for. He's a winner. He wants to win, as everyone does on our team. I think there was a sense of urgency tonight that we played with and that's really why we got the result.”
It wasn’t just his presence in front of goal that got him noticed by Cassar and his teammates though.
Martinez completed 41 of his 51 pass attempts and had 84 touches, keeping pace with Javier Morales and Kyle Beckerman to add another prong to their possession-based attack all while creating chances for Sandoval and Joao Plata.
“Devon I thought was making nice runs off the ball. And when it goes to players like Javi and Kyle, and Juan, there's a confidence with your runs that you’re going to get the ball and you saw that from our forwards,” Cassar said.
Sandoval concurred, “He’s a good player. He's got a lot of quality and it's really easy playing with him, Javi and Plata underneath me. They make my job really easy. They create so much. Juan's a great addition to the team.”
For his part, Martinez was pleased with his performance, but not satisfied. He knows there is still more work to be done for Real Salt Lake to reach its goal of an eighth consecutive postseason berth and he is looking to do his part to contribute to RSL reaching those aspirations.
“Yes, I feel comfortable, but I need to be better. I need more training with the team. I've only had two weeks here,” he said. “I feel very happy for the team because the team played very well, but we can't stay like this. We need to continue to be better. We need to win all the games. This is the only possibility of getting into the playoffs, so we went into the game thinking ‘we need to win this game’ and after next Saturday against Los Angeles, we need to win that game and all the games like this. We need to win, win, win.”
RSL meets Santa Tecla FC in the second match of the CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage on Tuesday in El Salvador before returning home to host the LA Galaxy on Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium.
