RSL Storylines: Leagues Cup 2024: A Chance at Immortality

The return of the 47-team / 77-game World Cup-style tournament for a second consecutive year presents a glorious opportunity for the Claret-and-Cobalt to pursue silverware and to consolidate its growing power and status as one of the nation’s most promising sports franchises.

Dearest gentle readers, welcome back to storylines.

The 2024 season has moved well past its halfway point, a record-breaking, near-fairytale campaign for the Claret-and-Cobalt. Right from the season’s inception, Pablo and the boys have blown away any and all tempered preseason predictions right out of the water with a swashbuckling display of vibrant, electric attacking football that has seen the team emerge as the top goalscorers in the Western Conference - and second in the league behind only Inter Miami - and saw RSL lay a four-month stranglehold to the West’s top spot between mid-March and mid-July in the Club’s best-ever start over its 20-year history.

Pablo and his coaching staff have now well-proven their place amongst the cream of the crop in their field, with ample evidence from this season existing to that claim. Ample praise must also be afforded to the players themselves for the manner in which they’ve conducted and applied themselves to consistently demanding and extracting the best of their own abilities. They are, after all, the ones who go out on the field each game to battle it out for 90 minutes for a share of the spoils.

However, to you readers, this author finds it incumbent upon himself, once again, to recognize and accredit your crucial contributions this season. For it would be entirely remiss, not to mention distasteful, to craft this opening exaltation without acknowledging your own partisan efforts and the important role you’ve played in the team’s success so far with your eternal, effervescent support all through this season to this point.

For the beautiful game is nothing without the fans who make it so. Joga Bonito - the game we adore.

You are our life force, our rock, our inspiration. Our raison d'etre, and we love you all ever so dearly. Your support is immensely valued and even moreso appreciated, far more than you could ever imagine, and we are ever so grateful. Once more we ask for your continuous undying support as the team pushes onto the final chapters of this season.

The midsummer season break is finally upon us, and with it, for the second consecutive season, the Leagues Cup.

A mandate, a tradition, a new order. A declaration - to the rest of the watching world. This is our Leagues Cup, in all of its glory.

For four weeks - between July 26 and Aug. 25 - across 77 high-octane games and three different countries, 47 teams across MLS and Liga BBVA MX will get the opportunity to compete on the football pitch for the chance to determine the footballing seat of power as well as the rights to crown themself the best footballing team on the North American frontier. It promises to be an action-packed, nail-biting series and a brilliant advert for the game’s ever-growing popularity on the continent.

RSL kick things off at home against Atlas FC (Liga MX) in its own Leagues Cup curtain-raiser on Thursday with the chance to get off to a perfect start, before next Monday’s trip to Houston to take on Houston Dynamo at Shell Energy Stadium to round off West Group 8.

Glory beckons, and immortality awaits come August 25th. The stakes are growing and higher now than ever before as we approach the business end of the season. It’s now or never, and as always in storylines, we preview some of the most compelling narratives that could swing the pendulum in our favor.

Storylines

• An opportunity for silverware? Winning trophies remains the ultimate currency and measure of footballing success, and the second edition of the Leagues Cup presents a groundbreaking opportunity for that reality. The visit of Atlas F.C. on Thursday also offers an opportunity for Pablo and the boys to get off to a perfect start at home and put together a good run of form ahead of the MLS restart at the end of August.

• Debut loading? The Leagues Cup games could also be an opportunity for RSL new signing Lachlan Brook to make his bow for the club. Winger Benji Michel could also be in line to make his first-ever start in Thursday’s curtain-raiser.

Where to Watch

You can catch RSL vs Atlas on Apple ThV’s MLS Season Pass right here

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. MT on Thursday, Aug. 1.

The Deep Dive

• An opportunity for silverware? Winning trophies remains the ultimate currency and measure of footballing success, and the second edition of the Leagues Cup presents a groundbreaking opportunity for that reality. The visit of Atlas F.C. on Thursday also offers an opportunity for Pablo and the boys to get off to a perfect start at home and put together a good run of form ahead of the MLS restart at the end of August.

Football in North America is on the rise. That is a simple fact, and so too concurrently is Real Salt Lake’s stature and reputation within the game on the continent.

RSL opened its 2023 Leagues Cup campaign in emphatic fashion with a resounding 3-0 win over Seattle Sounders, rebounding from a tough, eye-opening home loss to Monterrey with an amazing comeback to defeat Club León, before then succumbing to a 4-0 defeat at the hands of West rivals LAFC in the Round of 16. The team admittedly endured a mixed bag throughout the 2023 campaign, with several current star names having only been brought in over the past 18 months, and as such, naturally having to contend with struggles for form and acclimatization to a foreign league and country. But as the saying goes, light always abounds at the end of the tunnel, and the building blocks and seeds that were carefully put in place during a trying 2023 season have all now come forth reaping bountiful fruits this year culminating in the Club’s best-ever campaign - thus far - in a decade.

MLS commissioner Don Garber explained it best during a press conference last week when quizzed on his thoughts on RSL’s performance thus far this season

“[Real] Salt Lake, I think is indicative of where MLS is, that if you have the right ownership group, the right stadium, a passionate fan base, a good brand and you're successful with players that people care about, you can be successful in Major League Soccer,” he explained.

“RSL is a great team. It has a great ownership group. They're laser-focused. As you probably know, it's part of a multi-club ownership group. Chicho [Arango] is incredible and has had a great run. We couldn't be more excited about what's going on there.”

Indeed, many would point out that the Commissioner’s praise only echoed the sentiment already shared by those around the Club, as well as many in the industry, in glorified recognition of the growth and development of one of the nation’s most promising sporting franchises, and of an endearing fanbase increasingly desperate for tangible success. The fact of the matter is that Real Salt Lake is on the rise, and now more than ever, things look progressively bright for the future.

However, much work still remains to be done. With great power comes great responsibility, and to whom much is given, much is equally required.

On-pitch success consistently represents the holy grail for sporting institutions, and whilst determinants and markers for success are relative to the team in question, the ultimate overarching benchmark for sporting success remains silverware.

As legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said in his 2016 book, Leading: Learning from Life and My Years at Manchester United;

"Winning is so important. It doesn’t matter if you are a footballer, a baker, or a professional football manager, you have to win."

Winning silverware has the potential to propel a team to even further, previously unimagined, levels of sporting success thus greatly expanding and enhancing such a team’s reach and sphere of influence, and that remains the ultimate objective of the club and this team under Pablo Mastroeni, the consistent, relentless pursuit of excellence. This year’s tournament offers Pablo and the boys the opportunity to do that and etch their names permanently into RSL and Leagues Cup folklore.

The return of the World Cup-style tournament for a second successive season presents RSL with a glorious opportunity for silverware and to consolidate its power and reputation as a rising force to be reckoned with across North American sporting spheres, as well as to satisfy a fanbase utterly ruthless in its demand for success, long-shorn of silverware but yet resolute in its undying loyalty. And with the Leagues Cup, the opportunities are groundbreaking. The two teams that reach the Leagues Cup final earn berths in the Concacaf Champions Cup alongside the winner of the third-place match. And with Champions Cup spots up for grabs, Leagues Cup success serves as a key pathway towards the FIFA Club World Cup which all offer even more ample opportunities for silverware and sporting success.

Glory beckons, and immortality awaits - the chance to become footballing immortals of the Concacaf Leagues Cup - and Pablo and the boys will go into this competition with every intention and belief that this team, with Chicho leading the line, has all it takes to go all the way and emerge triumphant come the end of August, and your support fuels our belief and desire to go all the way.

Thursday’s opening game against Atlas also comes at the end of a difficult road gauntlet that saw the team fall to two losses and a draw in three away games, earning a solitary point out of a possible nine and being toppled at the top of the West standings for the first time since mid-March, while also seeing the annual award of the Rocky Mountain Cup fumbled away. With the advantage of playing its Leagues Cup curtain-raiser at home at America First Field, the team has the opportunity to return to winning form and start to build some needed momentum also ahead of the return of the MLS regular season.

Early July saw RSL improve to 8-2-1 / 25 points at home this season with back-to-back home wins over Houston and Atlanta by an 8-4 aggregate scoreline. RSL have recorded a total of eight wins in 11 games played at America First Field, having also scored a total of 28 goals during that period.

Pablo and the boys will no doubt be hoping for home advantage and the magic of America First Field on Thursday as the team attempts to get off to the best possible start in front of its unrelenting, adoring home support.

1. Debut loading? The Leagues Cup games could also be an opportunity for RSL new signing Lachlan Brook to make his bow for the club. Winger Benji Michel could also be in line to make his first-ever start in Thursday’s curtain-raiser.

RSL’s Leagues Cup participation could also be special for another reason. Two words - Lachlan Brook. Having only recently signed from Western Sydney Wanderers FC of the A-League Australian top-flight division, RSL fans could get the opportunity to size up their new man for the very first time during the tournament games and ahead of the usual-grinding schedule of the MLS regular season, an opportunity the midfielder himself relishes.

“Choosing to come to Real Salt Lake was a no-brainer for me. Major League Soccer is a league that is growing internationally in its profile and RSL is a club where I know I’ll be able to further develop my game.”

“After speaking with Pablo, it is clear the culture they’ve set at the club, and the environment provides a place in which I expect to strive. I am very grateful to be given the opportunity to take this next step in my career. I cannot wait to get started and play in front of the amazing fans at America First Field.”

The prolific 23-year-old arrives after a solitary season with the Wanderers where he scored 14 goals in 25 games across all competitions, including a five-star five-goal performance in his home return during an Australian cup game against Floreat Athena, which established a new Cup record.

Brook’s proven prolificacy offers a tantalizing prospect combined with the likelihood of him lining up alongside the likes of **Chicho**, **Andres Gomez**, **Diego Luna**, **Matt Crooks**, and more of RSL’s stars at America First Field, and RSL fans have much to be excited for with the arrival of the new dynamic Australian winger.

Forward **Benji Michel** could also be in line to make his first start in Thursday’s curtain-raiser. The 26-year-old former U.S. Youth International and Orlando City winger recently signed from F.C. Arouca and came on for his debut in the 2-3 defeat to Colorado to become the eighth different RSL debutant this season and the 212th different player of all time to don the famous bright shirt of the Claret-and-Cobalt.

Michel largely impressed throughout his 15-minute Rocky Mountain Cup final cameo and with a further week and a half to rest and recover and integrate, will be raring to go and take his opportunity when the team takes the field on Thursday against Atlas.

Both new signings could potentially feature significantly throughout RSL’s tournament campaign before the MLS restart, giving fans a glimpse of what they can provide the team moving forward.

Dare we say, the riot seems spoiled for choice this year with the litany and caliber of top-level attackers on RSL’s roster, but you’ll have to tune in to RSL’s Leagues Cup journey to catch a glimpse for yourself. One thing’s for sure though, Pablo and his boys certainly aren’t going down without a fight, but we for one wouldn’t have it any other way.

So once again, grab a drink, sit back and relax, and tune in. Glory beckons, and immortality awaits, and may the odds be ever in our favor.

For tickets, schedules, info, news, and more about the Western Conference’s great entertainers, visit rsl.com/tickets