Wasatch Soccer Sentinel is still in its infancy as a site, but we’re moving along at a good clip, and we’re hopefully getting close to prepared for the MLS season. As for Real Salt Lake, it sure looks like the roster is coming together, and although I’ve got some serious concerns about how the team will play, I think there’s just about enough depth there.
The potential signing of Brayan Vera goes some way to add depth defensively, resolving a major concern there after the trading of Aaron Herrera. With the rumored size of the deal being just under $2 million for Vera, it makes me wonder what could have been there, and if trading Aaron Herrera was truly necessary.
I don’t think it was, but I’m not on the inside here. But when I think about it, we can basically track the GAM received for Herrera directly to the Vera signing (and then some), and we have a one-to-one correspondence for the international slot received and the international slot we need for Vera. Salaries might be a bit different. Maybe we just needed a true starting left back over Bryan Oviedo, or maybe Herrera found himself on the outs with the team. I wish I had answers here.
Let’s move on, though. What’s that day-one starting eleven look like?
Predicted RSL starting XI
In a fairly traditional 4-2-3-1:
GK: Zac MacMath
RB: Andrew Brody
CB: Marcelo Silva
CB: Justen Glad
LB: Bryan Oviedo — or, if he signs, Brayan Vera
CM: Braian Ojeda
CM: Pablo Ruiz
RW: Jefferson Savarino
CAM: Damir Kreilach
LW: Carlos Andrés Gómez
CF: Rubio Rubin
Last week on Wasatch Soccer Sentinel
The Salt: Examining RSL's depth chart
Other news
My right-hand man over at Wasatch Soccer Sentinel, Lucas Muller, made this announcement on Twitter:
Are you interested in writing for Wasatch Soccer Sentinel?
Just like the teams we cover, we’re looking to bolster our squad ahead of the season. We’d love to have you involved in what we’re doing. You can reply to this email or send a note to info@wasatch.soccer.
A note on pledges
We’re gauging interest in subscriptions to this newsletter (and future offerings) by enabling the Pledges feature provided by Substack. We’ll be sure to give ample notice if we’re going to turn pledges into paid subscriptions, and we’ll give a very clear outline of any exclusive content you may receive.
If we do take on a subscription model, we’ll be clear as well about where your money goes. It’s important to me that our writers are compensated for their great work, and we’ll talk more about that if we get to that point.
This note was added post-publication, but I should have done it before. Sorry!
Missed one