Javier Morales has had a stellar start to the 2015 season with two goals and three assists in the first four matches for a Real Salt Lake team that has started the year at 2-0-2.
On Wednesday, RSL Technical Director Craig Waibel joined the Bill & OC Show and talked about the 35-year-old maestro of the RSL midfield and how he has maintained such success at an age when so many pro athletes have retired.
“He’s really taken care of himself. The schedule, with games just on the weekends right now, really gets him in a rhythm. He’s very professional with the way he eats, with the way he trains, with the way he stretches, with the way he takes care of his body,” Waibel said in his weekly interview. “We’ll have a bit of a tougher task when the games start to pile up in terms of managing Javier. He’s so competitive and wants to play every single game. We also have to acknowledge that he is 35 – we have to make sure he keeps playing like he’s not 35. Going forward we’ll have a little bit of a challenge.”
In addition to his own play, which has carried over well from his 9-goal, 12-assist season in 2014, Morales has also elevated the play of his teammates. In particular the play of his young teammates like Jordan Allen, who scored the game-winning goal against Toronto FC for his first MLS goal on March 29, then made his first MLS start last week against the San Jose Earthquakes.
“There are certain things in sports that will never go away. One of them is that when an older player talks, you better listen,” Waibel said. “Javi’s unique too. He takes the time to connect with each person in the locker room and each player and each teammate. He actually does a lot of things to build that trust and those relationships. There’s a reason guys listen to him and it’s because of the time he takes. He sees things as a player that even coaches can’t see on the field and he’s good at managing those and trying to get them out of his teammates.”
RSL meets Sporting Kansas City on Saturday at Sporting Park. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. MT with TV coverage on KMYU.
