Real Salt Lake

THE BASICS:

• Real Salt Lake
• Western Conference
• Home: Rio Tinto Stadium

HONORS:

• MLS CUP: 2009

REALSALTLAKE.COM:

• Tickets
• Schedule
• Jerseys/Gear

2016 Storylines

This season is make or break for Real Salt Lake and third-year head coach Jeff Cassar. And a revamped offense could position the Claret-and-Cobalt to regain to their former glory.

Last year, Cassar opted to discard the club's signature 4-4-2 diamond formation in favor of a more versatile 4-3-3. However, injuries and inconsistencies at the forward position derailed a potentially powerful front line and sunk RSL’s consecutive playoff appearance record.

2015’s failures were foreshadowed when Joao Plata went down the first day of preseason training with a broken foot. All-time leading scorer Alvaro Saborio was traded to D.C. United midseason and RSL finished the year 9th out of 10 in the Western Conference. They lost former designated player acquisition Sebastian Jaime in the offseason when he opted to return to Chile.

Forward Yura Movsisyan

RSL made quite a splash when they were able to bring back Yura Movsisyan. His return, coupled with a full preseason of Plata and Juan Manuel Martinez ("El Burrito") should allow RSL to develop plenty of firepower heading into the MLS regular season.

There is still a question mark in the center of defense: Former center back Chris Schuler is injured and out of contract and a potential deal with Ghanaian trialist Jerry Akaminko recently fell through. Projected starters Aaron Maund and Jamison Olave have struck a decent partnership, but Olave is 34 years old and has been inconsistent; Maund had a solid 2015, but remains relatively inexperienced. The offense will undoubtedly have to score their fair share of goals if they hope to make up for the shortcomings in the back.

With a full year of playing in the 4-3-3, and a potent front line primed to generate offense, Real Salt Lake are ready to return to the playoffs.

Armchair Analyst's Take

I’m having a hard time pegging this team, for a variety of reasons. I don’t know if Martinez and Plata will stay healthy; I don’t know if Morales, Beckerman and Rimando will stay young; I don’t know if Movsisyan will be as good a goal-scorer in MLS as he was in Europe (and remember, he was not a good MLS goal-scorer in his first run-through in this league), and most of all I don’t know what’s going to happen in central defense.

As of this writing the starting pair is Jamison Olave and Aaron Maund, and I don’t think that’s scaring anybody except poor Jeff Cassar. Olave’s shown over the past 18 months that he’s in the “fades in and out and can’t make up for those lapses with his athleticism anymore” stage of his career, and Maund has improved to “serviceable.” Upon this defense, a deep playoff run is not built.

So Craig Waibel needs to keep working the phones for reinforcements, and everybody else needs to stay out of harm’s way. On paper RSL are actually a much better, much more interesting and balanced team than they were in 2015.

But their problems last year weren’t on paper, they were on grass. And as of yet, they don’t look like they’ve been fixed.

Key Offseason Transactions

Player to Watch: Joao Plata

Injuries limited Plata to 19 games in 2015, but the 23-year-old is primed for a big fourth season in Sandy.

Projected Lineup:

Rimando; Beltran - Maund - Olave - Phillips; Beckerman - Sunny - Morales; Martinez - Movsisyan - Plata

Fantasy Soccer

Both Tony Beltran ($7.5m) and Jamison Olave ($8.0m) earned the same fantasy points in 2015 and that makes them tempting for this season, but if Olave can stay healthy, his higher price tag should be justified if you want to splurge. On offense, you still can’t go wrong with Javier Morales ($10.5m), who is very reasonably priced.

SLEEPER PICKS:

• Sunny Obayan
• Kyle Beckerman
• Yura Movsisyan