At different points in the season, Real Salt Lake’s attack has been a well-oiled machine, scoring goals for fun and seeing a long string of good results as a result. However, over the last four matches, RSL has just one goal and is seeking to break out from that scoring slump on Sunday in the regular season home finale against Sporting Kansas City.
Although much of RSL’s offensive successes have correlated with the health of RSL’s three forwards – Juan Manuel Martinez, Yura Movsisyan and Joao Plata – that isn’t the only factor that has impacted scoring for the Claret-and-Cobalt this season. With some of those factors in mind, RSL has had some focused training sessions in the last two weeks in the buildup to the final two matches of the regular season.
“There was a time in the year when we were creating an absolute crazy amount of scoring chances and putting them away and getting the results. The past four or five games, our offensive chances have dwindled a little bit, so when you get into that type of circumstance, the finishing needs to be clinical,” RSL Head Coach Jeff Cassar said on the Bill Riley Show on ESPN 700 on Thursday. “We haven’t been clinical in the final third in our last few games. It’s been a major focus the last two weeks in preparation for Kansas City.”
Plata and Movsisyan share the scoring lead with nine goals apiece while Martinez is close behind with seven goals. That makes RSL the only team in the Western Conference with three players with at least seven goals and one of three teams in Major League Soccer, joining Orlando City SC (Cyle Larin, Kevin Molino and Kaka) and the Philadelphia Union (Chris Pontius, Roland Alberg and CJ Sapong).
However, part of RSL’s dip in form coincides with an attack that has lost some of its diversity. Since July 1, Martinez has just one goal and one assist in 15 matches. While his shots haven’t dropped much (24 in his first 15 matches and 21 in the last 15 matches), his output has suffered. According to Cassar, it’s an issue the club has addressed in training and has more to do with where and how he and Plata are getting the ball.
“We need to find him in better positions on the field. He’s not going to do his damage at the halfway line. So we have to do a better job of circulating the ball quicker, sharper, not turning the ball over and finding him and Joao in those higher positions, wider and higher up the field,” Cassar said. “We’ve worked on trying to find them in better positions for them to excel and that’s something that we’ve been focusing on a lot over the last two weeks.”
One thing that will help is having all three forwards on the field. RSL is 9-2-5 when Martinez, Plata and Movsisyan start together and Cassar anticipates having all three available against Kansas City on Sunday.
To hear the full interview, click here.
