Through 13 matches this season, Real Salt Lake has exceeded expectations to hold on to a third-place position in the Western Conference despite games in hand on both teams ahead of the Claret-and-Cobalt in the standings.
While RSL was not expected to turn around so quickly from a disappointing ninth-place finish in the West in 2014 at 11-15-8, missing the postseason for the first time since 2007, Real also hasn’t reached its full potential yet and has earned its spot through some adversity, fighting its way to contention in the always-competitive Western Conference.
Although he is away on international duty with the U.S. National Team for Copa America Centenario, RSL captain Kyle Beckerman offered his reflections on the first part of the season and looked ahead to the remaining MLS calendar in an appearance last week on ESPN 700 On Frame.
“We’re happy but we know if we don’t continue it, it will do us no good how well we’ve done so far. We need to stay focused and make sure we’re ready to come back and see if we can even get better,” he said on Monday night’s show. “We’re all be super happy with how we started and how it’s been so far, but we all feel like we can do better. We’ve got to keep the foot on the pedal when we get back and get back to Rio Tinto and get winning games as fast as possible. We want to get into a nice groove going into the second half of the season so by the end of the year we’re looking just to fine tune to get ready for the playoffs rather than trying to get in the playoffs.”
In the first 13 matches, RSL has seen some character-revealing results, including three comeback victories over Seattle Sounders FC, the Houston Dynamo and New York City FC. Those are a welcome change from the 2015 season, when Salt Lake was just 1-13-2 when allowing the first goal.
“When we do give up a goal, the heads don’t go down. We’ve been here before, we know we can win,” Beckerman said. “That gives you a lot of confidence in games.”
Those results have come as a result of some veteran leadership and high-quality additions to the roster, in addition to the development of young players like Aaron Maund, Justen Glad and Jordan Allen. While those players have been able to help keep RSL in games, big performances from the forward trio in Head Coach Jeff Cassar’s 4-3-3 have kept opponents at bay.
While Joao Plata has been a consistent threat in the attack with five goals and six assists in 11 appearances, RSL has also enjoyed a load-sharing attack that has seen different players step up under different circumstances.
Yura Movsisyan had just two goals through his first 10 starts, but has found the back of the net in his last two starts to bring the club’s biggest off-season signings to four goals through 13 matches. Juan Manuel Martinez also has goals in each of his last two starts and four for the season, completing the forward trifecta. Meanwhile last year’s leader in goals and assists, Javier Morales, has just one goal and one assist in 10 appearances.
“We’ve got work to do and it’s exciting that we can still get better and push forward and see what we can really do at the end of the season,” Beckerman said. “That’s when we want to be extremely happy is at the end.”
Making that success even more impressive is that nine of the club’s first 13 matches have come on the road, where RSL has posted a 3-4-2 record. Matched with a perfect 4-0-0 record at home, RSL has set the tone for a tremendous season already.
Maintaining some consistency in the attack, where RSL has landed three goals in each of the last three matches, while finding the defensive consistency to match will propel RSL into the next phase of the season, as Salt Lake will play eight of the next 10 matches across all competitions at Rio Tinto Stadium.
“We’re sitting in really good position for the next push of the second half of the season,” Beckerman said. “We need to continue being ruthless in front of goal and really tidy in the back and then it becomes contagious.”
To hear the full interview with Beckerman, listen below.
