We are now on the threshold of Real Salt Lake’s first competitive match of the 2016 season as RSL takes on Tigres UANL in the Quarterfinal Round of CONCACAF Champions League in the first match of the two-legged, aggregate-goal series starting Wednesday in Monterrey, Mexico.
To help prepare for the new season, we at RSL.com will take a look at the team one position group at a time in the days leading up to the match and after already previewing the goalkeepers, defenders and midfielders, we now take a look at the forwards for the Claret-and-Cobalt.
Forwards: Yura Movsisyan, Juan Manuel Martinez, Joao Plata, Olmes Garcia, Devon Sandoval, Emery Welshman.
A year ago, Real Salt Lake made the transition to a 4-3-3 formation primarily to get its three top forwards onto the field together. An injury to Joao Plata in preseason shifted that lineup to include Sebastian Jaime, Alvaro Saborio and Olmes Garcia across the front line when RSL opened the season against the Portland Timbers.
Now, with RSL poised to start the season against Tigres UANL in the Quarterfinal Round of CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday, that forward trio is even stronger than before. With Plata back healthy and the additions of Juan Manuel Martinez in the summer and Yura Movsisyan in the winter, Head Coach Jeff Cassar now has a highly potent trio of forwards to unleash.
“The offseason highlights it. I think a lot of these guys put in a ton of work in the offseason and they were able to come in at a higher level of fitness and sharpness and you can easily see that,” Cassar said. “They’re capable and they’re willing and they will have to do that for us to be successful as a group moving forward.”
Plata had high expectations entering the 2015 season after leading the club in scoring with 13 goals in 2014. But when he fractured a bone in his foot on the first day of training camp, he knew it was going to be a long season in front of him where he would struggle with form and fitness. Now fitter than he was even when he entered training camp in 2015, Plata is ready to bounce back from his four-goal season last year to recapture the imaginations of RSL’s fans and the fear of his opponents that used to linger when he sprung himself into the box.
“His fitness level is right now better than where it was at the end of last year,” Cassar said. “You’re seeing his explosiveness back and he’s able to take people on 1v1.”
Part of Plata’s late resurgence last year was buoyed by the arrival of Martinez. “El Burrito” made an instant impact from his first day and has since continued to elevate the level of each training session while having a crystal clear influence on the field that goes well beyond the one goal and one assist he earned in eight matches last year.
Then, of course, there is Movsisyan.
When he left Real Salt Lake after winning MLS Cup in 2009, Movsisyan was one of the best young forwards in the league. Now, after successful stints with Randers in Denmark and Krasnodar and Spartak Moscow in Russia, he is back and carries with him the experience of lifting Randers from a winless season and sure relegation in his first season abroad and being among the leading scorers in Russia’s Premier League for both mid-table Krasnodar and perennial favorites Spartak.
His potential largely realized, he now has the capability, Cassar says, of taking the team to know heights in the attack.
“He really is a threat. He’s somebody that the opposition has to zero in on or he’s going to make them pay,” Cassar said. “I’ve been blown away by the way he’s gelled with the team and the way he’s sacrificed himself on the defensive side. As he continues to get fitter and sharper, I think we’re going to have, arguably one of the best forwards in the league.”
In addition to his three lethal forwards in the starting lineup, Cassar also still has Garcia (2 G, 1 A in 2015), Devon Sandoval (4 G, 2 A in 2015) and newly-signed Emery Welshman (6 G, 2 A for Real Monarchs SLC in the USL in 2015) ready to deploy off his bench. With those upgrades, RSL has high expectations for its scoring potential in 2016.
