Earlier this month, Real Salt Lake defender Aaron Herrera was touted as one of the best five outside backs in Major League Soccer by Extratime Radio on MLSsoccer.com, quoted as being “as tough defensively as there is in this league.”
Within the walls of RSL, players and coaches alike have known for a while that Herrera is special and that it has always been a matter of time before the rest of the soccer world started to notice.
RSL left back Donny Toia has seen his progression first hand in training and games and said it best: “He’s an all-around athlete. He is just built differently and he only continues to get better.”
Fellow defender and current roommate Andrew Brody has been along for the ride since day one, having grown up as kids in the Real Salt Lake Academy down in Arizona, since then they have walked in relative tandem towards both becoming professional athletes for the organization that birthed them.
When asked about what makes Herrera such a dynamic outside back Brody quirked a bit of a smile and immediately rounded off several characteristics.
“His willingness to get forward, he wants to gain the space and get in front of the winger, so he can take that touch forward and start the attack from outside back,” Brody said. “Then on the other end his commitment defensively is even better, he’s always gonna track back and he’s always gonna be hard to get by. He is dynamic both ways.”
From the sidelines Head Coach Freddy Juarez has similarly known Herrera from his youth, having followed his youth career in New Mexico before coaching him at the RSL Academy before either became part of the MLS fold. He has watched him grow and develop for over a decade. Last year when speaking to the media Juarez expressed his confidence in Herrera making the United States National Team one day, foreshadowing what he would accomplish nearly a year later.
Despite his confidence and praise of the young defender, he sees room for improvement, a ceiling for which he has only begun to reach.
“He has become a player that can hit not only a wide area surface, he has gotten at delivering service that can be central, can be in between the lines, can be in behind the backline. A perfect example is last year’s goal against Portland where he gets it at a wide area, plays it vertically, and finds two runners going between their centerbacks, that type of ball is a high-level ball. He is a powerful athlete that is physically dominant, but there is still room for growth,” Juarez said. “He is a player that I think can get more assists and actually get a couple goals this season.”
Assistant Coach Pablo Mastroeni joined the team this year and immediately began working with the team’s backline. After seeing Herrera as an opposing coach and in a short amount of time with RSL, he too has seen what the rest of the organization sees in Herrera.
“He fits the profile of the modern soccer player. He’s athletic, he has great physical qualities and he has also grown into a very technical player who can find very difficult passes to break lines,” Mastroeni said. “It’s been great to see a young man that has grown up in the Academy and developed into a great young professional that has a bright future ahead.”
Three years ago when RSL signed Damir Kreilach, Herrera had just put pen to paper on his Homegrown contract with his home club. The two were at vastly different places in their careers, one as a proven veteran and the other a lanky kid looking to make strides into consistent playing time.
By the end of that first season, Herrera worked his way into the starting lineup and has since been named the club’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2019 and 2020. That deep chasm between the savvy veteran and wide-eyed rookie has narrowed as they are both seen as leaders on the team and crucial pieces to the on-field success.
“Three years ago when I joined RSL I saw a young kid who was pretty quiet. The development he has done in the years since is incredible, it's the biggest development I’ve seen in my career and it's because of his hardwork and his determination,” Kreilach said “He’s become one of the most important players in our locker room both on and off the field. He’s still young but he has the experience. What he has achieved so far to join the National Team and the Olympic team says everything about Aaron Herrera.”
Herrera joins RSL teammates Justen Glad and David Ochoa on the U.S. U-23 National Team and will take the field on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. MT in the first match of the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament against Costa Rica. The match will be broadcast live on FS1.
