For quite some time, Real Salt Lake Head Coach Jeff Cassar has had his eye on newly-acquired midfielder Luis Silva.
Cassar scouted Silva while he was playing collegiately at UC-Santa Barbara and loved his versatility, noting that he could line up as a center back, in the midfield or as a forward. However, when Silva entered the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, RSL held the 17th overall and the multi-faceted Los Angeles-native was long gone by the time it was on the clock, taken fourth overall by Toronto FC.
Now, after playing with Toronto FC and D.C. United, Cassar gets his wish as Silva came to Real Salt Lake Thursday in a trade that sent Alvaro Saborio to the Eastern Conference-leaders. Silva, 26, gives RSL a young option in the midfield with some creative flare and a knack for the net.
“At the end of the day, he’s just a very good soccer player. He can find his way on the score sheet whether it’s through goals or assists,” Cassar said. “But when you look at his career playing, even through college, he’s been very versatile”
Silva found an immediate home in the midfield in his rookie season with Toronto FC and accounted for five goals and five assists. In his second season, he was traded midway through the season and landed with D.C. United. There he closed out the season with three goals and two assists in 13 matches, all starts, setting the table for a resurgence with D.C. in 2014. As a consistent starter on a veteran-laden team, he tallied a team-high matching 11 goals to go with four assists in 27 appearances, 22 of them starts.
Injuries have limited him to just 346 minutes this season, starting in four of his 14 appearances. When healthy, though, his skillset makes him a great fit for RSL.
“Luis is a really interesting attacking player. Very technical. He enjoys the ball on the ground and obviously that’s something that we’ve seen at times this year we’ve been very efficient in this formation. At times we’ve played a little too much in the air,” RSL Technical Director Craig Waibel said. “Luis is another player that likes to come in and keep the ball low. Which is I know something that Jeff desires.”
His aforementioned versatility will be a welcome addition to RSL’s attack. In addition to playing underneath a center forward, he can also play wide in the midfield and create from the wings. That allows Cassar to play him in different roles from game-to-game depending on his personnel and opposition.
“You could make tactical adjustments for each game. You can have wingers that are out-and-out wingers or you can have people that are possession players that want to come inside and combine,” Cassar said. “It’s going to be really nice for us to have these types of players that are versatile, especially as we’re going into Champions League and so many games in a short period of time. It’s going to be very vital for us that we have players that can play multiple positions.”
Silva is expected to join the team before next week’s match against Sporting Kansas City.
