Real Salt Lake forward Yura Movsisyan echoed Head Coach Mike Petke when he appeared Monday on ESPN 700’s On Frame, saying RSL would need to return to square one to move forward with the 2017 season. Off to a 0-3-2 start through the first five games, RSL needs to get things shifted in the right direction quickly to avoid too big of a hole to climb out of in the ever-competitive Western Conference and to Movsisyan, every player needs to be held accountable for their play on a week-to-week basis.
“It doesn’t matter who you are. If you’re a DP, then you’ve got to play as a DP. You’ve got to do your job. That’s what you’re getting paid for,” Movsisyan said. “It doesn’t matter who you are. If you’re a U.S. international, if you’re an international or if you’re a young guy that is playing, you’ve got to show up. We can’t have excuses. If you’re playing at this level, you’ve got to show up and play at this level.”
Movsisyan leads the team with two goals, though both came in a losing effort, but one week earlier took blame for not getting more than a draw from RSL’s match on the road against the New York Red Bulls after he thought he should have done better with some chances he had in the match.
Under Petke, the team will get a fresh start and while the new boss will make some tweaks to the way things are done (more on that here), it is up to the players to get the job done on the field. That, to Movsisyan, is important to keeping accountability in the locker room.
“The only message that should matter right now is that we’re all equal. We will all be given the same chance,” said Movsisyan, who met with Petke this week to discuss how the team will approach things moving forward. “The only thing I asked and wanted to hear was that everyone was going to be given the same chance. If I’m better at what I do, then I will play. If I’m not, I won’t play. It’s as simple as that and that’s the way it should be.”
RSL will face Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium in Petke’s first match as Head Coach.
