SANDY Ut. - Real Salt Lake defender Tony Beltran admits that even he can’t help but play out all the past scenarios of a tough season in quiet moments.
“I try not to, but sometimes when I lay awake and can’t sleep, I think about, ‘Oh you know, when we played against Philly, if we would’ve won that game,'” he said, "if [Nat Borchers] wouldn’t have scored against Portland, or this and that, and you start doing the math. Then you just torture yourself and then I remind myself what’s in the past doesn’t matter. Everything is in front of us.”
RSL's Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoff hopes are hanging by a thread with only four league matches to go, starting with a Rocky Mountain Cup clash against Colorado on Sunday (7 pm ET, FS1). A laundry list of injuries has plagued the squad all year and inconsistency in untested replacements has led to more than a few frustrating results.
“I think it’s difficult for any team that has a lot of injuries,” utility man Jordan Allen said after practice Wednesday. “A big part of playing well and getting results is having chemistry, and when you have so many changes, week in week out, it makes it hard to kind of build that chemistry.”
The back four looks completely different today than what many envisioned at the beginning of the year.
Chris Schuler was on the cusp of a US national team call up and was rumored to have turned down an invite in order to get healthy. That time off didn’t help him much, however, when he suffered a meniscus tear randomly during warmups a few months ago.
His central defensive partner, Jamison Olave, has missed eleven games himself. That means that between the two of them, RSL have only had their “preferred” center back pairing for only four out of a possible 30 league matches.
Influential playmaker Javier Morales recently tweaked his hip during an emergency appearance against Santa Tecla FC in CONCACAF Champions League play. And just when RSL looked like they were starting to click, it went sideways again in a 1-0 loss to the San Jose Earthquakes last weekend.
- Get more RSL news at RealSaltLake.com
Head coach Jeff Cassar agreed with the tough breaks over the course of 2015, but added that there are positive signs for a strong end to the season.
“It is frustrating, but it’s life. It’s kind of been one of those years where we’ve never been able to just keep everything going forward,” Cassar said. “There’s always something pulling us back. But we’ve got to find ways to still be successful. This week of training has been great, a full week of training. We were able to get the guys the right training but also not overdo it. I think we’re going to have the right energy against Colorado.”
