Real Salt Lake's development-based model still produces results in modern MLS, but took a hit vs. free-spending LAFC
RSL was bested by Heung-Min Son's first MLS hat trick and a historic goal by Denis Bouanga, a pair of Designated Players whose salaries combine for well over Salt Lake's entire roster.
That Real Salt Lake lost to LAFC in a match played well after its initial scheduled date of June 25 isn’t a surprise.
The Angelenos cruised to a 4-1 win over Salt Lake that pushed the visitors 14 points clear of 10th-place RSL to fourth place in the Western Conference in front of a packed house at America First Field in Sandy, Utah.
Heung-Min Son, who set an MLS record with a $26.5 million transfer fee from English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur, scored his first hat trick since arriving stateside in August, and Denis Bouanga, who is set to make $7.3 million at 30 years old, became LAFC’s all-time leading scorer with his 94th career goal across all competitions for the Black and Gold.
In between was a spectacular strike by Zavier Gozo, an inverted volley in the 76th minute that initially pulled Salt Lake within 2-1 before Son and Bouanga finished off the hosts and dropped RSL to 10th in the West with an 8-9-3 record across all competitions at home this season.
“Overall, I think we played the way we wanted to play,” RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni said. “From the way we dictated the game to the chances that we created; the only thing eluding us was scoring the goals that we needed.
“You’re not going to win many games of you don’t score at least half of your (big chances).”
The highlight reel goal was Gozo’s fourth of the season, setting a new club record for goal scoring by a teenage player in 21 years.
But LAFC, who also boasts World Cup winning goalkeeper Hugo Lloris in the back, was too much to overcome.
That’s the difference in Salt Lake and Los Angeles, in a club that prides itself on “winning through development” while churning out academy graduates and youth tournament champions — and one with ownership capable of breaking the league record for transfer fees (and sometimes, again and again and again).
The latter likely will never be RSL’s reality. Salt Lake City is among the smallest markets in MLS, one of the smaller medium- to large-sized markets in the country, and lacks the corporate capital and investment infrastructure to splash cash in the Utah capitol.
Knowing that, the club set up an academy in the early days of MLS, initially in Casa Grande, Arizona, before moving to the state-of-the-art training facility in Herriman, Utah.
It’s an academy that is not without merits — Gozo being among the latest. It’s also produced world-class players like Taylor Booth, the Eden, Utah native who went through the RSL Academy before signing with Bayern Munich prior to the 24-year-old’s current deal with Dutch side Twente.
A few other names: Justen Glad. Brooks Lennon. Aaron Herrera. David Ochoa. Plenty of high-level talent has passed through the RSL Academy, and many of them played for Salt Lake before moving on to other professional opportunities.
But on Wednesday night, the limitations of the system were on display. “Winning through development” is still the goal at Real Salt Lake, and the mid-week result doesn’t mean the club will never beat a team like LAFC (which will host RSL on Sunday evening in an odd same-week, home-and-home due to the rescheduling).
But the club still has to figure out a way past Son, and then RSL still has to deal with Bouanga. Get through them, and you’ve still got world-class players with European experience — to say nothing of the seemingly immortal 38-year-old French international between the sticks.
None of this is the fault of Mastroeni or his players, who have been tasked with putting out the best possible project they possibly can, and competing in a league where LAFC’s budget is becoming the norm rather than the exception.
And for the most part, they’ve been as successful in it as perhaps should be expected with playoff appearances in six of the last seven years and 14 of the last 17 seasons. Mastroeni and Co. aren’t in charge of budgets, after all.
All they can do is the best they can — including giving it another try in four days.
“My job is to do the best I can with the players that are in the building,” the fourth-year head coach said. “That’s where all my attention and energy goes to, is the guys in the locker room.”
Kickoff Sunday at BMO Stadium in downtown Los Angeles is scheduled for 7 p.m. MT, and will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1 in addition to MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.