Real Salt Lake's MVP candidate Chicho Arango more than a goal scorer
Real Salt Lake's MVP candidate Chicho Arango more than a goal scorer
Arango’s 11 goals and seven assists have led to 18 goal contributions of Salt Lake’s 20 goals on the season for the top team in the Western Conference.
With two goals in Real Salt Lake’s 2-2 road with the LA Galaxy that felt more disappointing than triumphant for the visitors, Chicho Arango didn’t just cement himself atop Major League Soccer’s goal-scoring charts.
He almost cemented his status among the league’s MVP race — even with a certain record-breaking world superstar and all-time great in South Florida with 11 goals and 12 assists for Inter Miami.
No one is comparing Arango’s all-time career to Lionel Messi. But the overall value of the 29-year-old Colombian striker who signed with RSL a year ago can’t be overlooked, either.
Arango’s 11 goals and seven assists have led to 18 goal contributions of Salt Lake’s 20 goals on the season. Receiving that kind of value is exactly what the club expected when it signed the striker known colloquially as “Chicho” when it inked him to a Designated Player contract reportedly worth $6 million per year.
No, he’s not Messi. But Arango’s value to Real Salt Lake is apparent. And it’s not just in his goal contributions.
“It’s tough to win in this league without a striker like Chicho. It’s that simple,” RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni said after Saturday’s draw. “I think the stats speak for themselves. But one of the things that I think he’s really made a concerted effort to improve has been his defending from the front. He’s so engaged, and created 2-3 turnovers tonight that led to great opportunities.
“When you’ve got a guy that is scoring all those goals who is committed to helping the team defensively, you have a real leader in the group. He’s been playing every minute; today he started cramping up, and we’re getting to that part of the season where we have to rotate guys. Chicho isn’t always going to be on the field; we need guys to step up and be a team. But to this point, I couldn’t be ore happy with what he’s contributed to this group and really inspired the guys to be better.”
The mark of a good goal scorer is just that — scoring goals. Arango will ultimately be judged on that lone statistical category is he looks to shattered the RSL single-season goal scoring record of 17 set by Álvaro Saborío in 2012.
But perhaps he should be judged by even more.
“He does a lot for this team, on both sides of the ball,” said RSL center back Philip Quinton, who joined the team from Columbus a month ago. “Obviously the attacking stuff is what gets said around social media and makes some news; that’s not to diminish that. What he’s doing offensively is spectacular. But he works extremely hard the whole game, and you can see that in the way he defends. He does so much for our team, helping us build out and starting our press.
“But off the field, he’s the same as he is on the field. He’s there for everyone on the team. He’s been super grateful to me as I’ve joined the team; it seems like that’s how he is all the time. We’re super fortunate to have him.”
The mark of a good leader — a team captain, even, which Arango accepted for the first time in his MLS tenure prior to the 2024 season — is the way they make their teammates better.
RSL has seen it before with Kyle Beckerman, Damir Kreilach and a handful of others. Justen Glad has reached those levels at times, and Emeka Eneli and Braian Ojeda are beginning to show that heart. But Arango is the next in line.
“When you have a leader like Chicho, you have performances like Emeka, Ojeda, Glad; he’s just an inspiration for the group,” Mastroeni said. “We’ve got to take care of him, and make sure he continues to be available for us. But I couldn’t be more happy with what he’s been able to do for our team.”