Real Salt Lake relied heavily on Nick Rimando to take a result on the road despite taking heavy fire from Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday, but the influence of Olmes Garcia is hard to forget.
On the road (again)
We could harp on about refereeing inconsistency and bad penalty calls, and maybe there's a place for that, but it stands to reason that allowing 16 shots on Saturday — 7 on-target, 7 off-target, 2 blocked — meant Real Salt Lake was dangerously closing to suffering from a less controversial decision. But for incredible goalkeeping from Nick Rimando, RSL would be walking away with zero points. Now, road matches are always going to be difficult in MLS, and there's plenty to be happy about from Saturday, but allowing repeated opportunities puts a side in real danger.
It's difficult to pinpoint a specific problem point, though — whether it's a problem that might be solved by the return of Chris Wingert is difficult to say, but playing a young center back in Chris Schuler alongside a young or inexperienced left back doesn't always lead to fantastic team defending. Wingert's arrival back to action — he went 90 minutes for the reserves — could add some essential stability.
Defending the flanks
It's fair to say that Real Salt Lake's weakest defensive position is left back, and as such, it stands to reason that teams will try to seek out any inconsistency in the position. Lovel Palmer was targeted — much as Mansally was last match — and did well, but not without the help of his teammates. Yordany Alvarez covered well when needed, Ned Grabavoy put in an efficient effort on the left, and Chris Schuler stepped over when Palmer went forward to build in attack.
Schuler's ability to step left and defend the flanks is perhaps in part a result of his deployment in 2011 and 2012; it's not his natural position, but when RSL is in possession and our left back pushes forward, having an able body to shore things up can make a world of difference.
Decisions, decisions
Olmes Garcia's goal marked a lot of things: The sighting of potential, the excitement of youth, the unyearning need at Real Salt Lake for players who step up and make a difference. Jason Kreis will be delighted by what he saw: After only an hour of playing time with Real Salt Lake, the exciting kid from Colombia made his first major impact on a match.
But Kreis is continually faced with one bigger thing: Who starts, and who makes the bench? Once Robbie Findley returns to fitness, the fight for minutes starts in earnest: Alongside the speed demon, Plata, Garcia and Sandoval have each shown well; Plata has two assists and has looked dangerous, Garcia scored that brilliant goal and has looked freakishly talented otherwise, and Sandoval seems to be shaping into a real rookie surprise.
A regular contributor to RealSaltLake.com, Matt Montgomery runs the SB Nation blog RSL Soapbox. Follow Matt on Twitter @TheCrossbarRSL
