There's something wrong at Real Salt Lake
Plus, how many games might RSL end up playing in 2023?
It feels like we’ve been here before: A team that’s seemed tight, connected and engaged suddenly looks every bit the opposite, a loss that feels monumental in scope.
I don’t want to overstate the importance of one loss, as RSL has been here before in somewhat recent memory. A 5-1 loss to LAFC at home to start the season at home in 2018, for example, still looms large. Three consecutive losses in 2020, though one imagines off-field concerns played a role — the ousting of Dell Loy Hansen and the chaos around that move in a season beset by the onset of COVID looming large. It’s been nearly a decade since we could reasonably expect Real Salt Lake to be a highly competitive team in MLS, and that quite reasonably has left all of us grasping at straws, trying to find something that gives us an easy target to blame.
I am, of course, no different in this regard. I have been outwardly skeptical of Real Salt Lake’s head coach for an extended period. I’m not here today to further that argument, nor am I here to dispute other targets of blame. The reasons for that are twofold: There are innumerable factors of which we have not been made aware — “behind the scenes” stuff, and I don’t think anybody’s particularly in the mood for convincing.
Not to brush over “behind the scenes” here, but I do think it’s important that there are factors we simply don’t have the ability to consider without speculation.
Instead of focusing on finding the blame, I’d just like to point toward what I contend are some alarming facts. Evidence that, yes, something is quite wrong at Real Salt Lake.
RSL hasn’t put together consecutive wins since weeks 13 and 14 of 2022
From the midpoint of 2022, the team holds just five wins, one of which came in 2023.
RSL’s consecutive home losses since 2012
2012: June 20, 2-3 to LA Galaxy; June 23, 1-2 to San Jose;
2015: Oct. 14, 0-1 to Portland Timbers; Oct. 17, 0-1 to FC Dallas
2017: April 22, 1-3 to Atlanta United; May 6, 0-3 to FC Dallas
2020: Sept. 12, 0-5 to Colorado Rapids; Sept. 19, 1-2 to Vancouver Whitecaps
2021: Oct. 30, 3-4 to San Jose; Nov. 3, 1-3 to Portland Timbers
2023: March 11, 1-2 to Austin; March 25, 0-4 to St. Louis City
I know it’s probably obvious to most that there is something, in fact, wrong with this team. The reactions after that St. Louis City match have been stronger than I’ve seen from RSL fans collectively in some time (when considering, of course, only things happening on-field), and there’s an upswell of anger about it.
I get it.
If it’s not overtly obvious, I don’t have a lot of desire to dwell on that last game in the list. It’s not that I don’t have anything to say — I do! — but you’ll just have to find more in-depth stuff on the site later this week. I’m having trouble really articulating that match, honestly. For as competitive as it felt in the first half, it felt entirely uncompetitive in the second. I don’t know — that sort of thing just saps my energy.
Anyway, I’m happy to share something a bit lighter, too. Enjoy this bit from Ian Knighton on how many games RSL might force us to suffer through play in 2023.
The Maths
Wasatch Soccer Sentinel writer Ian Knighton penned the following section of the newsletter this week.
There seems to be some degree of confusion, disagreement, or general misunderstanding of how many matches RSL can play in 2023 and how many matches they will play. So I broke out a stack of napkins and did the maths.
The Competitions
Real Salt Lake will play in many competitions throughout 2023.
Major League Soccer Regular Season (34)
Major League Soccer Post Season (Minimum 1, Maximum 7)
US Open Cup (Minimum 1, Maximum 5)
Leagues Cup (Minimum 2, Maximum 7)
The Totals
If we put all of those numbers together, Real Salt Lake will play 38 matches in 2023 and could play up to 54 matches.
In order to hit that 54 match number, the following things would have to be true:
Made it to the US Open Cup Final.
Made it to the Leagues Cup Final.
Made it to the MLS Cup Final, but only if they were to enter from the 8th or 9th place position and take all three matches to advance out of the first round.