On Tuesday, Real Salt Lake kicked off its second official day of preseason and its first of the dreaded double days with training sessions in both the morning and afternoon in the box at Zions Bank Training Center.
Morning sessions bring with them an air of competition and physicality, the guys are often dripping in sweat by the time the final whistle blows. Meanwhile the afternoon focuses on rejuvenation, taking care of the body and the more tactical elements of the game.
Tuesday was no different. The boys continued their “fast start to preseason,” continuing to jump right into aggressive passing and possession drills in the morning with position-driven drills on the other side of noon.
“This year we are hungry, guys arrived early, some didn’t leave, and we showed up ready to work,” forward Justin Meram shared.
Regardless of the type of training session, one common theme threaded throughout is a desire to be better than before.
“As players we have a job to do,” defender Donny Toia shared with media in between sessions. “That’s competing everyday, proving ourselves that we can do better than last year. I think we’re off to a great start. We’ve had so many guys in and ready to go for preseason and that plays a big part. You can’t get much lower than last year, so it’s upward and onward from this point on.”
On Wednesday, the team will have a much-earned off day before hitting the ground running again with their second doubleday of the week, propelling themselves to their second intra-squad scrimmage on Saturday, a chance for the team to implement this week's learned tactics and get a feel for how the season might shape up.
