It may be early in training camp, but Real Salt Lake is already itching to get the competition rolling in the 2015 preseason. On Saturday, they are set to face the New England Revolution at Grande Sports World in Casa Grande, Arizona, in the opening stanza of the preseason schedule and while Head Coach Jeff Cassar expects some rust from his team, he has seen enough progress in the first week of camp that he is excited to see things start to materialize on the field.
“It’s not going to be perfect, that’s for sure,” Cassar said. “But you want to see flashes and see some success from the things you’ve been working on and keep building from there.”
The team has worked to integrate some new pieces to the puzzle, including left back Demar Phillips and midfielder Pecka along with returning center back Jamison Olave. It has also coped with the absences of Nick Rimando and Luis Gil to national team duty and Joao Plata to injury.
Those variables have equated to some new looks to Cassar’s lineup, but perhaps none greater than the 4-3-3 formation he utilized in parts of training. And while some of the veteran players are likely to be held out of the match to ease them into match-fitness, Cassar will aim to get a good look at how the team is coming together on the defensive side of the ball.
“Obviously you start with the defense. That’s the foundation and you build from that,” Cassar said. “I’d like to see a good defensive effort, not getting exposed too much and let the guys have some freedom when they have the ball.”
The players had a noticeable hop in their step in the final training session on Friday as they saw the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel in Casa Grande with the match against the defending Eastern Conference champion Revs on the horizon.
“The preseason is long enough that we have a lot to work on and this will be the first step in fine-tuning and getting rid of the rust,” said midfielder and captain Kyle Beckerman. “The games are great to get the fitness because practice can only do so much. It’s the games you need. The first game against New England will be great. I’m sure we’ll get a good exercise in and keep progressing.”
The match is slated to kick off at 9 a.m. MT, with live-tweeting coverage on the official Real Salt Lake Twitter account (@RealSaltLake). RSL is scheduled to return to Utah on Saturday before embarking on the second leg of preseason in Irvine, Calif., next week.
