Real Salt Lake head coach Jeff Cassar made a small change in attack Saturday night against the visiting Columbus Crew SC. He opted to play Designated Player Sebastián Jaime as the central forward, instead of out wide. Although Ethan Finlay's equalizer spoiled the night for Real Salt Lake, that move may pay longer-term dividends.
In his first full season with Real Salt Lake after joining the club last August, Jaime has played on the wing in RSL’s 4-3-3 formation as his pace and work rate are a natural fit. However, the former Union Española player got off to a slow start.
After suffering a bone bruise in the third game of the season, Jaime was out much longer than initially expected, but the Argentine has recently put together a string of solid performances, punctuated with two goals in his last three matches, that indicate that he might be finding his groove.
“I think he’s doing great,” RSL head coach Jeff Cassar said after practice Tuesday. “He’s given us runs in behind. He’s given us runs into channels. But he gives us an option of quality where if we have to relieve going over the top, we can get on the end of things.”
Jaime offers versatility in the attack, and his relentless effort on both sides of the ball were responsible for RSL’s second goal of the match Saturday night against Columbus. Defender Abdoulie Mansally tried to clear the ball away from danger in the 46th minute and ended up sending a long ball over the top of the Crew’s defense. Jaime sprinted toward the ball, and a miscommunication between Steve Clark and Emanuel Pogatetz gave the forward just enough time to poke his foot in and loft a shot into the back of the net.
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“It’s crazy what one goal can do for a striker, to kick-start the season,” RSL midfielder Luke Mulholland said. “It’s great for us, knowing that we can play in the opposition’s half and if we can get the ball in to Jaime to hold it up, or we can release Olmes [Garcia] or [Joao] Plata on the outside, it gives us confidence that we can get our back line high and therefore get our midfield higher.”
Jaime’s move to the point of the attack seemed to galvanize the rest of the team Saturday night. RSL created a number of quality chances throughout the match and looked to be playing worry-free. When asked if the move to central forward could become permanent for Jaime, Cassar was hesitant to commit to a long-term decision.
“When we saw him play down in Chile, he can play all three and do them really well,” Cassar said. “It’s about what team we’re playing against; can we get in behind them? And how we want to start the game and how we want to finish it.”
