What do RSL do after worst defeat in franchise history?
What do RSL do after worst defeat in franchise history?
There's no putting lipstick on the pig: Sunday's 6-0 loss to New York City FC was tied for the worst defeat in Real Salt Lake history. What's next: forget it, or learn from it?
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Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get back to recalling the painful memory over the Easter holiday.
You’ve read about it by now, so there’s no need to rehash too much: Real Salt Lake was thoroughly dominated, out-classed, and — in many ways, to use the word preferred by team captain Damir Kreilach — embarrassed on the road by a 6-0 loss to New York City FC.
It’s not just that RSL lost, or that they allowed six goals in the defeat — though that doesn’t help. It’s the manny in which they gave up the six-spot, including a hambone of four goals by reigning MLS Golden Boot winner Taty Castellanos.
The reigning MLS Cup champs looked to be back to full force less than a week after crashing out of CONCACAF Champions League, and they made up for a slow start to the 2022 campaign with a resounding win over a previous Western Conference upstart.
New York City broke down RSL’s defense, and it wasn’t just because of the narrow field or weird environs of playing at Yankee Stadium — for whatever that’s worth eight years after the club’s founding.
“They broke us down very easy, very cheap,” Kreilach said at halftime.
Cheap, indeed. It’s not just a loss, but one tied for the worst defeat in club history — a 6-0 loss to the New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium in 2010.
NYCFC scored off set pieces, from the penalty spot, from the run of play and nearly netted a seventh goal on a weird counterattack before a merciful foul in Zach MacMath’s spared the goalkeeper another goal allowed.
The visitors weren’t just beaten Sunday afternoon; they weren’t competitive.
“Credit to the guys, they stuck in there, they kept fighting for what that’s worth,” RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni said. “We will have to look at the video, but more importantly than anything else, I was talking to the New York staff today, and they said ‘we were expecting a real scrap today. We knew we had to match your intensity.’ And we just didn’t bring it today.”
Real Salt Lake (3-2-3, 12 points) has found a way to earn results, and earn them the hard way, without much of the club’s usual talent and with a dearth of available bodies on the field that necessitated hardship callups from Real Monarchs.
But as the team inches closer to full health — Justen Glad and Jasper Löffelsend were the latest to return to limited training, though neither traveled over the Easter weekend — their performance slips further and further. Sunday’s loss was the fourth-straight match without a win for the Claret and Cobalt, which is fine when it comes to earning a successful point on the road from Colorado but less so when it comes to a home draw with Toronto and whatever Sunday was in the Big Apple.
And now comes a midweek match Wednesday via the third round of the U.S. Open Cup against USL League One side Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC. Perhaps the one upside of so many injuries — and the recent recoveries, obviously — is that it leaves openings for players to return to form against a lower-division side in non-league play.
The downside is that it comes in a win-or-go-home knockout tournament.
“Last week we were flying high. This week, we obviously didn’t perform,” Mastroeni said. “We set the table in training this week. Obviously, we don’t have a lot of training this week because we have a midweek game, and it is important that we put our best foot forward.
“Again, I think the one thing that we really hung our hat on early in the season, not having a full roster of players, was everyone was willing to do more than what was required because we didn’t have that. I think we need to get back to that place where guys that are coming back to the group, they have to get back to that mentality where everyone is willing to do the extra.”
Rumors have swirled around potential transfers and new additions to Real Salt Lake’s roster for weeks. The club famously has three Designated Player spots to fill after an offseason of transition that included new ownership.
But will new players make all the difference in the world? Sure, they can help; but they won’t cure the lack of competitive integrity displayed in the Bronx.
And Mastroeni’s job doesn’t revolve around players who might be here later. His job involves the players who currently has.
“I think if those guys were here today, it wouldn’t have made a difference because it’s a team that plays,” Mastroeni said. “Individuals have to play their role and do their job for sure, but today it was more of a collective. It lacked the same type of grittiness and resolve that we’ve had in the previous seven games. The players that have always been available have always stepped up and performed wonderfully in some very difficult places to play. Obviously, the first part of the season is really loaded with away games.
“My job is to work with the guys that we have in the building and give 100% of our attention and focus on those guys. If other players come in the future, then we’ll acclimate them into the group and move forward.”
