Real Salt Lake is still very early in the process of developing the team for the 2015 season, but already Head Coach Jeff Cassar is seeing the competitive nature of the team as the team trains in Casa Grande, Arizona. With a few changes in the roster, that competition will determine roster spots and positions in the starting lineup as the regular season opener on March 7 against the Portland Timbers draws nearer.
“There are a lot of positions up for grabs. There have been a lot of departures of players that have played for a long time at certain positions and there’s a lot of openings for a lot of players. And you could see it today,” Cassar said after Monday evening’s training session. “Guys were hungry.”
Early in camp, the team has focused mostly just on playing soccer and gaining fitness. The cohesion of the group will come in time, but already Cassar is seeing some signs that the team could gel quickly because of a core of leaders on the roster, including Kyle Beckerman who is taking part in full training camp for the first time in years after passing up the opportunity to train with the U.S. National Team to help aid the transition with the evolving RSL roster.
“That’s going to take some time. It’s something we want right away, but it’s going to take some time,” Cassar said. “We’ve got a great leadership group here that will bring them along. But it’s not about playing great the first few days. It’s about getting better each day, grasping what we want to do tactically and then implementing it in the few games that we do have.”
In the first two days, there have been a lot of introductions to new faces. In addition to the return of Jamison Olave after a two-year stint with the New York Red Bulls, there has also been left back Demar Phillips and several first-year players looking to make their marks.
The opportunities are there, too.
Two players are out of action due to injury, with Joao Plata undergoing surgery to repair a fractured fifth metatarsal in his left foot on Monday and Justen Glad rehabbing after off-season knee surgery. Three others are away on international duty, with Luis Gil and Nick Rimando on Jurgen Klinsmann’s roster as the U.S. National Team prepares to take on Chile in a friendly on Wednesday and Sebastian Saucedo is away with the U.S. U-18s as they play in the Copa Chivas Tournament in Guadalajara, Mexico. In addition, Tony Beltran has missed the first two days of camp in Arizona to attend his grandfather’s funeral in California. He is expected to rejoin the team on Tuesday evening and get back to training on Wednesday. Third-round SuperDraft pick Jordan Murrell is also expected at training on Wednesday after he took part in recent training sessions with some clubs in Europe.
From Tuesday to Friday, Cassar will lead his team through two-a-day workouts. On Saturday, the camp will conclude with a match against the New England Revolution before the team returns to Utah.
“We’ve got a competitive group of guys and that’s the reward of these two-a-days is that game at the end where you can really put the work in,” Cassar said.
Stay tuned to RealSaltLake.com for all the latest on preseason activity with the club.
