The 2015 Major League Soccer season has been over for only hours and Real Salt Lake and General Manager Craig Waibel have long had their eyes set on readying the Claret-and-Cobalt for the 2016 season with four primary targeted positions.
With those in mind, there are several mechanisms by which Waibel will pursue the players to fill those gaps during the 80 days between the Portland Timbers lifting the MLS Cup on Sunday after a 2-1 win over the Columbus Crew and Real Salt Lake’s February 23rd kickoff against Tigres in the Quarterfinal Round of the CONCACAF Champions League.
Some of those mechanisms won’t come to fruition until the international transfer window opens in January, but others could potentially be filled in the coming weeks with the start of free agency in MLS, the Waiver Draft on Wednesday and Stage 1 of the Re-Entry Draft on Friday.
RSL has a veteran core around which Waibel can build and in addition to stalwarts Nick Rimando, Kyle Beckerman and Tony Beltran, the Salt Lake GM also points to an attacking group that includes Javier Morales, Juan Manuel Martinez, Joao Plata and Sebastian Jaime as one that could contend in 2016 with the addition of one more vital piece.
“We really like our attacking core,” Waibel said last week on the Claret-and-Cobalt Daily Podcast. “I think you can always be looking for a central striker – someone who scores 15 goals a year is someone I will always be interested in.”
Other needs, according to Waibel, include depth in the midfield, a consistent left back and a one more position on the defensive front, due primarily to a rash of injuries in 2015.
“The central defense is obviously a concern. We have to remain healthy,” Waibel said. “It’s no mystery. If you look in MLS, the teams who get injured center backs, they don’t do very well. It’s one of the most important positions in our league to maintain health.”
Some teams around the league will be announcing trades in the coming days and while that is certainly a viable option to improve the makeup of the roster, Waibel has not yet found the right fit for what RSL is seeking.
“Right now there are a lot of discussions. There aren’t a lot of great moves to be made,” he said. “There are some clubs that are forced to move someone and you might get on the better end of it. But you also have to have the salary cap to make that happen. We’re still managing quite a few contracts that are very substantial.”
Real Salt Lake will pick fifth in the Waiver Draft on Wednesday, the Re-Entry Draft on Friday and the second stage next Thursday and in the January 14 MLS SuperDraft.
In the meantime, Waibel, Andy Williams and the RSL coaching staff have been scouting players from around the world that could fill those gaps as well.
Waibel and Head Coach Jeff Cassar recently ventured to Argentina to meet with clubs, players and agents, deepening the roots of Salt Lake’s system of communication with the South American soccer factory. That’s not the only country that will see RSL’s staff visit in the coming months though, as the club looks to make improvements to the roster.
“It’s an exhausting process. It’s not a small grocery store, if you look at it that way, when you’re taking your cart and walking around the whole world,” Waibel said. “We’ve identified a number of players that we feel could be beneficial. But getting to the point of actually getting them in at this time of year is a little more difficult than it would be in the summer.”
