Fans of Real Salt Lake spent an entire offseason dealing with what could have been. The sting of a 2013 MLS Cup championship loss to Sporting KC in a game that came down to a missed penalty in the 10th round of a thrilling penalty kick shootout sat with them through the winter. While that was bad, it certainly seems as though this past offseason was even tougher to deal with. Real Salt Lake’s 2014 season came to a stunning end when they suffered a 5-0 loss to the LA Galaxy that truly did expose the difference in talent between them and the eventual MLS champs.
Instead of acting boldly to try and improve the squad, RSL spent most of the offseason trying to patch up holes caused by player exits. The result has led to a rather pessimistic view for the club’s fans heading in to what could be a very trying season.
The Architect Moves On
Real had always preached “The Team is The Star” but after a devastating loss to the LA Galaxy ended their season a year ago, general manager Garth Lagerway admitted the Galaxy had the better team. That admission sent ripples through an already divided fan base and it certainly didn’t help when Lagerway was stolen away by the Seattle Sounders.
It’s a big blow as the team qualified for the playoffs each and every year under his watch, winning the MLS Cup in 2009 and coming painfully close to winning a second (2013) as well as coming close to taking home the CONCACAF Champions League Crown in 2011.
The fact that he left wasn’t a major shock but the club was slow to react. Despite working under the man he will succeed, Craig Waibel will have to prove he can lead RSL to a championship.
A Patchwork Job
Waibel spent more time looking after addressing the team’s losses than making any bold moves to acquire immediate talents to help bolster the club’s position. Nat Borchers moved on to Portland after serving as one of the defensive anchors over the past couple of seasons while midfielder Ned Grabavoy was snatched up by New York City FC in the expansion draft. RSL managed to respond to both moves by bringing in Jamison Olave from New York to replace Borchers and acquiring defensive midfielder Pecka to fill the void left by Grabavoy. Ex-Stoke City defender Demar Phillips was also brought in to fill a void.
Waibel was also thrust into a dicey situation with Carlos Salcedo, who tweeted at the end of last year that he wanted out. Originally, some felt a change in management might be able to convince him but that wasn’t the case. He now plays for Guadalajara in Liga MX.
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RSL has long built from within so they will undoubtedly have a couple of homegrown talents ready to challenge for jobs as well.
Outlook
It was another difficult offseason for RSL and their fans following last year’s stunning playoff exit and the loss of a couple of key players – as well as the team’s general manager. While they did well to patch those holes, they were not proactive enough to expect a major improvement.
The 2015 version of Real Salt Lake could very well contend for a playoff spot again as they continues to keep the emphasis on the team concept and building from within, but without a major upgrade at any position, it’s impossible to expect this team to be substantially better than the one that was blown away by the LA Galaxy at the end of 2014. It has been a trying two years for the fans of a club that has been on the downslide ever since the missed penalty that cost them a championship in 2013 and at least on paper, it seems as though things are going to get worse before they get better.
