Flush it or refresh it: What does RSL do with a 4-0 home loss?
Yes, Real Salt Lake lost to St. Louis City SC 4-0 to moved the expansion side to a historic 5-0-0 record. So what does the club do next?
HERRIMAN, Utah — How do you bounce back from a crushing, and sometimes embarrassing, defeat?
That’s Real Salt Lake’s challenge as it comes off a 4-0 home loss to St. Louis City SC, an expansion side that has taken Major League Soccer by storm as just the third team in league history to open with a 5-0-0 record.
So when the club returned to the training facility in Herriman before flying out to next week’s road match, what was top of mind from a squad reeling from the worst loss since that infamous 6-0 drubbing at New York City FC last April 17, with just one win in its first three matches and the longest losing skid under manager Pablo Mastroeni?
Is it time to flush the result, and move on? Or does the club incessantly review the film to learn from an experience that, in theory, can only make it better for the 34-match regular season that is MLS?
“I always like to reflect, and see it,” veteran midfielder Justin Meram said. “For me, personally, I don’t like to run away from a bad game and not want to watch it. I want to see the good, the bad, the ugly. And we had some really good moments; the first half was probably some of our best.
“I felt the way we were tackling was a different tone. We had to match their intensity. But obviously, when you can’t put the ball in the back of the net and you give up one, you feel like the weight just falls on all of our shoulders. I thought we responded to the goal for the first 10 minutes, but then that second essentially kills you.”
By Monday morning, and rolling into Tuesday, the loss still stung. But their were also learning moments, teaching moments, and positive reflections to build on while the rest of the league celebrated the start of a St. Louis side that no longer considers itself an expansion team.
So yes, Virginia, it is possible to build on a 4-0 drubbing. In fact, it’s vital for a club that doesn’t wan’t a third loss to become a fourth, or a fifth, or more over the course of the season.
“I think it’s both things: learn, and then forget (about the result) quickly,” said RSL winger Jefferson Savarino, who played through pain 30 minutes off the bench. “We know we have another game Saturday, and if we stew on this loss, then going into Saturday at Columbus, maybe we go in with that mentality. It’s a process through which the club is processing, and I think we need to take it in quickly — including myself — to be better in the next matches so that we can bounce back with a win.”
There can be quality in review, as well; things are rarely as bad as you remember them, or as good as the best highlights seem in the moment. Every game, every moment, is a time to learn — and a chance to do better for a club that may play as many as 50 matches across a variety of competitions, from MLS to U.S. Open Cup to Leagues Cup and more.
“What I can say right now is we’re only four games into the season. It’s a very, very long season,” Eneli said. “I know some of the results, but I know the type of players we have in the locker room, the type of coaches we have, and the culture they foster around us. It’s one that, even if get knocked down, we’re always going to fight back and work harder.
“We’re never going to back down from a challenge. We’re always going to continue to fight.”
There’s also something to learn, a moment to take away. And RSL could’ve had a very different result last Saturday if it had snuck in an early goal, gotten a better touch from breakout rookie Emeka Eneli, finished a chance by Brayan Vera just before the half, or topped one from close range by second-half substitute Danny Musovski.
Would’ve. Could’ve. Should’ve. It doesn’t matter in the final result, and the past can’t be changed.
But soccer is a game of inches, and never moreso than a club that outshot its visitors 19-14 (but put an equal eight shots on target), and out-possesed St. Louis with 61.1% of the ball — for whatever that is worth.
“I think looking at it objectively was a lot better than the emotional perspective that I had right after the game,” Mastroeni said. “I think we did a lot of really good things in the first half, and again, our ability to possess the ball was really good. Now it’s really just fine-tuning what we do inside the box.
“We’ve got to be able to turn those shots into goals. I think that’s what our weakness is up front.”
Could a change of scenery also help? After losing back-to-back home matches, RSL will fly to Columbus on Friday to face Crew SC at Lower.com Field at 5:30 p.m. MDT Saturday (MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). In its first visit to Columbus since June 2018, RSL will try to outlast a Crew side that matched a club record last week in a 6-1 win over Atlanta United.
Oh, and the Crew are unbeaten in seven-straight home matches against Salt Lake, a total of five wins and two draws dating back to the 2009 conference semifinals.
“It’s a crazy league,” Mastroeni said. “I think that any team in this league … can just get momentum. It’s a league of streaks, and when you’re not in a good streak, the key is to break that.
“It’s a streaky league. I think Columbus is a great team, and they play well at home. It’s an opportunity for us to have a great performance, and measure ourselves against the best in the league.”
