2015 Preseason Thoughts

Man, it has been a looooong time. I mean, look at that old Ben Cup 2013 banner. Never fear, the Ben Cup is still in full effect, it has just gone underground. FYI, this year's model is unfortunately only one game and it is on the road. August 1st, RFK Stadium, all the marbles. Anyway, I just have been thinking about the upcoming season and thought "Eh, what the hell, let's throw up a post!" And so, away we go.

If there's one thing that scares me about RSL this year, it is injuries. Many of our key guys are old and/or injury-prone. Olave, Morales, Saborio, Schuler. It scares the hell out of me. That being said, I do like a lot of what's here.

The offense has a lot of potential. If Sabo and Plata can regain their past form, we'll score a lot. If Olmes remembers how to play soccer, even better! If Jaime adjusts to MLS, look out. Speaking of Jaime, I'm not sure what to expect. Let's be honest, he was a complete waste of a DP slot last year. Yet, a lot of guys that come in mid-season struggle until they get a full preseason under their belt. Long time listeners (first time callers) will recall Morales really wasn't all that great when he first came to Salt Lake either. No, I'm not forgetting Sandoval, but if we're depending on him to drive our offence, we're in a lot of trouble.

Moving to the midfield, we have known quantities, but somehow a lot of questions. Morales still has the vision and the technical ability, but he's getting up there (35 years old). Can he last a full season any more? Is there enough left in his legs for him to track back when needed, or even go a full 90? Speaking of age, Beckerman turns 33 in April. He has been extremely solid when it comes to injury, but when will that start to change? Probably not this year, but then, all it takes is one bad tackle (see: Morales, Javi). The biggest question is Luis Gil. Is this the year he finally consistently shows the brilliance that has always been expected from him? If he can make that leap to stardom (or near it), RSL could be scary good this year. Mulholland looked steady last year, and I expect more of the same now that he has a season under his belt and knows what to expect. In fact, a small bit of improvement this year wouldn't surprise me. Newcomer Pecka is an unknown quantity (for me, and for most, don't lie). The word often used for him upon his signing was "bite," but he's only around 5'6" or 5'7" which doesn't really scream intimidating to me. We'll see how he does.

The defense will be interesting. When they are healthy and on top of their games, and if they can learn to mesh together, I could certainly see Schuler/Olave being the best CB duo in MLS. Scary good. Then again, especially with Olave, but also to a point with Schuler, I always felt that Borchers was kind of the brain behind their brawn. Nat always seemed to get them in the right positions and help them make the reads so that they could react. We'll see how true that feeling was (and more on Nat in a sec). That being said, Schuler seems to have a good defensive IQ and it gets better every year, and Olave seemed to make a good impression in NYC without Nat, so I don't think simple positioning mistakes should be too prevalent. Beltran is Beltran. Workmanlike, steady, won't generally give you the spectacular, but generally won't lose many games for you. Demar Phillips should be a good pickup, coming over from Scandinavia and with over 60 caps for Jamaica. I hate to see Wingert go, but hopefully this will be more than sufficient cover for that loss. The young Guatemalan defender, Elias Vasquez, intrigues me. He comes with a good pedigree, including 25 caps, and he's only 22. I would imagine he'll get some game time this year, as I would think Cassar would rest his center backs, especially Olave, in order to keep them rested and healthy.

We lost a lot this offseason. A great GM in Garth? Gone. Wingert, Findley, Borchers? See ya. There's plenty more, but I don't need to rehash stuff that's been done to death. As you read the defender section, you may have thought, "Man, this guy loves Nat. He must be distraught!" Actually, no. I do like Nat and thought he did a great job here. However, last year you could just see he'd lost...something. He just seemed out of sorts in spots that he never did before. I think age is starting to creep up on him and that this was the perfect time for RSL to cut ties. Wingert, in my opinion, was a bigger loss. I will never understand why he never got a real shot at the USMNT, especially considering the dearth of full back options there. He has been consistently better than Beltran, yet got  none of the fanfare. Extremely underrated and his loss hurts. RSL did a great job finding Phillips, however, and I'm much less pessimistic about left back than I was. Then there's Robbie Findley. Longtime RSL fans will know that wasn't the real Robbie out there last year. He just looked rusty to me and by the end of the season, lacking in confidence. His playing time was extremely hit or miss and he could never get into a rhythm. And Robbie needs rhythm. With a full offseason under him, I think he is due for a nice bounceback season and RSL will regret letting him go so easily. That is, if he can get PT in Toronto with Jozy there now.

So what will happen this year?

Worst case: Injuries, Olave goes down for the season. Morales gets hurt. Sabo struggles while dealing with some injuries. Schuler leads the back line for a while but then gets some niggling injuries himself. The new signings flame out. Plata's pre-injury form last year turns out to be a fluke. Rimando, Backerman, and Sabo all take off for the Gold Cup leaving RSL even more shorthanded. The new 4-3-3 formation never really seems to sink in. We limp into a fight for the last playoff seed and fall just short. We lose the Ben Cup.

Best case: Team stays healthy. Sabo/Plata become a killer strike force once again. Jaime figures it out. Schuler and Olave become the pairing they can be, Gil takes the step to the next level. Phillips is a revelation in the back, Grab second in the west, maybe steal the Open Cup, and who knows when you're into the playoffs. We win the Ben Cup overwhelmingly.

RR Forecast: I think some injuries will hit, but I'm hopeful we're not decimated. Schuler and Olave will become a dominant force. The new formation will be a little bit of trouble early, but we'll figure it out. Sabo gets back to his old form (great for a few games, disappears for the next few, repeat) and puts up at least 12-15. Morales will be great again, but his age will start to show by the end of the year. Gil is better, but still not where maybe his potential says he could/should. Perhaps used in a disadvantageous position for him. An early USOC exit, solid CCL play, a 3 or 4 seed in the west. At least one playoff round win. A small step back from last year, but mostly because everyone else seemed to get a lot better, rather than us getting worse. We win the Ben Cup.

GO RSL! Peace,