Chicho Arango is the MVP of RSL's 2024 season, but his defense deserves flowers
Chicho Arango is the MVP of RSL's 2024 season, but his defense deserves flowers
Chicho Arango scored his ninth goal of the season in Salt Lake's 1-0 win over Sporting Kansas City. But don't ignore RSL's defense in its current run of form.
The script played itself out again.
Real Salt Lake was seemingly saved by a second-half game-winner from Chicho Arango as the Colombian striker scored his ninth goal of the season off a free kick from his countryman Brayan Vera in the 81st minute to lift RSL to a 1-0 victory over rival Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night at America First Field in Sandy, Utah.
The goal helped Salt Lake keep pace atop the Western Conference with a 6-2-3 record and 21 points, just one point ahead of Minnesota United.
But after the match, head coach Pablo Mastroeni put his arm around Justen Glad, his trusted center back, as the club’s longest tenured player reciprocated the gesture following RSL’s third shutout in the past four games.
Glad told his coach, “it wasn’t our best game — but we found a way,” Mastroeni confided, then added: ”If we keep zeroes, we know that Chicho is going to knock one in.”
On Star Wars night around Major League Soccer as the league celebrated the officially unofficial holiday that has become May 4, the philosophy seemed simple: Chicho, this is the way.
But in between the Colombian striker who has nine goals on the season and led MLS with seven assists until Leo Messi’s ridiculous five-dime game in Inter Miami’s 6-2 rout of Red Bull New York, there were a lot of pieces that propelled RSL to a seven-match unbeaten run since March 9.
It wasn’t always the man who has scored or assisted on 16 of the club’s 18 goals, either. He helps, though.
“If you ask the guys in the back, it’s amazing that you know when they keep zeroes, they’re going to get a chance,” Mastroeni said. “It’s Chicho, it’s what he does. He’s a killer in front of goal. It’s a tough burden to carry that type of responsibility, but he’s been doing to this point — and the expectation is he’s going to continue doing it.”
On Saturday night, it was the job of Glad and Vera to defend — even if it meant for the Colombian left back-turned-center back to pick up his fifth yellow card of the year (and a one-match suspension with it) on a comical bear hug in the second half.
It was Zac MacMath’s job to make just one save on 10 shots faced, while Andres Gomez and Arango led an offense that threw 14 shots against Kansas City goalkeeper John Pulskamp.
But it was also the job of each RSL player to defend — even the No. 9 wearing the captain’s armband.
“I think it belongs to all of us, the responsibility to defend as a team,” Arango said in Spanish. “We’ve been doing it, and this is how we’re goin to continue.”
Again, this is the way.
Arango is having an MVP-caliber season, and probably would be leading the charge across the league were it not for a certain World Cup champion and Barcelona legend on a massive contract in South Florida.
But the former LAFC striker has his responsibilities as well, and in terms of value, it’s tough to find more than what Cristian “Chicho” Arango has brought to RSL.
“As soon as Chicho arrived,” MacMath said, “I think he changed the dynamic for our team. I felt like we were solid defensively and struggled to score goals some nights.”
That’s certainly not the case anymore, at least for Arango.
But as team captain, it’s also his job to lead. It’s a role that he admitted after Saturday’s match didn’t exactly cause him to do somersaults when he learned he would be wearing the armband.
But after reflecting on the honor at home, he realized the best thing he could do to accept the privilege … was not do anything. He needed to be trustworthy, a confidante for his teammates, as well as them for him.
“I think it’s been very natural, this leadership,” Arango said in Spanish. “They listen to me, but I try to listen to every one of them, and I try to take the advice they give me. I think that’s why it’s worked out so well for all of us.”
His coach sees the natural leadership, too, in his captain whose sponsor Beats by Dre sent new headphones to each player on RSL’s roster this week (an act Arango never mentioned, but because social media is what it is, word quickly got out — which was also probably part of Beats’ intent).
Mastroeni likes to talk about “mentality” — and a lot of the team’s collective identity feeds off its
“He works hard at practice, and the boys would follow him tot he end of the world,” Mastroeni said. “That’s the example that he brings to the team.”