Real Salt Lake returned to the training field on Tuesday after taking four days off during the bye weekend. A chance to refresh and rejuvenate was just what the team needed during what has been a tumultuous season according to Head Coach Jeff Cassar.
“I think it was good. It’s been a tough year both physically and mentally and it was good for us to get away,” Cassar said on Tuesday on his weekly appearance on The Bill & OC Show on ESPN 700. “The energy at training was good and we’re going to need that the rest of the year. We’re going to need everyone in these next three games to be healthy and to contribute. We’re going to have to put out our best team as much as we can.”
RSL currently sits eight points behind Sporting Kansas City and the Portland Timbers, who occupy the fifth and sixth spots in the Western Conference and would be the last two into the playoffs. With just seven matches left to play, the margin for error is razor-thin for RSL, but Cassar says rather than looking at the enormity of the task, the team is approaching it as facing small obstacles with each week, starting with Saturday’s match at BBVA Compass Stadium against the Houston Dynamo.
“We just have to take it one game at a time. We can’t start looking at what other teams are doing. We’ve just got to concentrate on us and it’s got to start with three points in Houston and nothing less,” Cassar said. “That’s really what we’re focused on.”
In the Dynamo, RSL meets a team that has gone 3-2-2 in the last seven matches to keep pace with the playoff contenders. Still five points out of the last spot, the Dynamo is led by the forward trio of Will Bruin (10 goals, 2 assists), Giles Barnes (6 goals, 2 assists) and Erick Torres, who joined the team during the summer. Add in World Cup midfielder Brad Davis and it’s a potent attack in spurts.
However, Cassar looks at his own team and is optimistic about the matchup against Houston, especially after posting a 2-0 win over the Dynamo at Rio Tinto Stadium on July 18.
“I think we match up really well with them. They put together a couple of good streaks and inched their way a little bit closer to the playoffs than us. We haven’t put together those streaks that we’ve wanted,” Cassar said. “Houston’s playing good soccer. They’re a very talented team. We’re going to have to make sure we are nice and organized and we’re lethal with our finishing to put them away.”
To hear the full interview, click here.
