FRISCO, Texas — Real Salt Lake are glad to head home after a nightmare of a road trip.
RSL lost 5-1 in Houston on Wednesday, and head coach Mike Petke publicly apologized to fans and management. But that was followed by a 6-2 loss at FC Dallas on Saturday, which included an MLS-record five goals allowed in the first half.
Where do things go from here? RSL now has the worst goal differential in MLS at minus-20, and the most goals allowed (35).
“I made it very clear to the guys,” Petke said after Saturday’s loss. “Go enjoy yourselves, you need a break. They are going to be fighting like dogs for positions. Because it’s not good enough. Individually, collectively, key players in key positions — not talking about everyone — but I’m at a point now where I can’t protect everyone. I’ve never been through something like this.”
The RSL roster was decimated heading into the FC Dallas match, down 12 first-teamers.
Brooks Lennon, Justen Glad, Sebastian Saucedo and Danny Acosta were called to the U.S. U-20 national team. Nick Rimando and Jefferson Savarino were called to U.S. national team and Venezuela national team, respectively. Jordan Allen, David Horst, Chad Barrett and Demar Phillips were out with injuries, Sunday Stephen was suspended, and Luis Silva got married.
But Petke said it the problem isn’t who isn’t in the game.
"A lot of it has to do with players not accepting their responsibilities,” he said. “I played at this level, I was never a fantastic player. But the one thing I did was fight like a dog, listen to the objectives are and know my role as a player and look to apply that. For some reason there is not enough of that."
He was at a loss for words down 5-0 at halftime against FC Dallas.
“I’m trying to remember watching a game, being part of a game that it was that ridiculous,” he said. “And I can’t. It’s tough coming in halftimes like this … What do you say tactically in that moment? What do you change in that moment? The damage has already been done.”
RSL now get some time off. They don’t play again until the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup on June 14, and the next league game isn’t until June 17. Until then, it’ll be a lot of reflection, and searching for an answer on the defensive side.
“We’re in a tough spot and we’re trying to find the answers,” RSL captain Kyle Beckerman said. “It’s not that easy, we’ve got to dig deep and find a way out of it.”
