The MLS Summer transfer window officially opened last week and with Real Salt Lake’s playoff chances hanging by a thread as of now, Salt Lake soccer fans are wondering whether or not the club will make a move to bolster their bare-boned roster.
What was once one of the deepest clubs in all of MLS in recent years, has now been decimated by several national team call-ups in addition to multiple long-term injuries.
Will RSL Make a Move During Transfer Window?
Team leaders Kyle Beckerman and Nick Rimando are off with USMNT in the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, while other RSL starters Alvaro Saborio, Elias Vasquez and Demar Phillips are with Costa Rica, Guatemala and Jamaica.
As if five starters out because of international competition wasn’t enough, young offensive sparkplug Sebastian Saucedo was also recently called into the USMNT U-18’s and is expected to miss the next two RSL games according to head coach Jeff Cassar.
In addition to the six players called into their respective national teams, RSL is continuing to deal with injuries to the original starting center-back tandem of Chris Schuler and Jamison Olave, as well as nagging injuries to young center-back Justen Glad and utility player Jordan Allen.
Schuler could be making his return to RSL Saturday in Colorado after having knee surgery in April, Glad and Allen are probable to make returns soon (although Cassar hasn’t given a definite green light to either), but Olave could be out for at least another month if not more if his rehab doesn’t go smoothly.
This begs the question, should RSL make a move during the transfer window?
Major League Soccer announced Wednesday that they would be introducing a new form of club player investment called “Targeted Allocation Money” in the form of $100,000 per year for a total of five years, ultimately investing $500,000 per team for the use of signing new designated players, making regular players designated players or signing new players.
It’s a good move by the league that will hopefully help some of the smaller market teams, like RSL, compete with the NYCFC’s and the LA Galaxy’s who have the monetary resources to sign the Andrea Pirlo’s and the Giovanni Dos Santos’ of the world.
But will RSL decide to use that new targeted allocation money and go after a player to fill a hole, or will they hold firm and trust in the player development that has made their academy system one of the best in North America?
Youngsters like Allen, Glad and Saucedo have proven that they can at least compete on the MLS stage so early in their careers with not much of an argument to prove that they couldn’t be full-time starters in the future. This leads me to believe that Cassar and company won’t be interested in putting another veteran in front of these young players when they could make such big strides while the internationals are away.
However, there are some spots that are currently filled by veterans that might be in need of a replacement.
Luis Gil has been a question mark when it comes to transfer windows for a few years now. He’s been rumored to be a target for several Liga MX teams because of his performances with the USMNT U-20’s and U-23’s. While Gil has done an acceptable job pairing up with Luke Mulholland in the central midfield with the absence of Beckerman, unfortunately he has unequivocally proven that he’s no Javier Morales when it comes to being the attacking midfielder in the 4-3-3. For so much talent, he’s never really been able to produce many goals for RSL and it may be time to ship him off and bring in a player more suited for RSL’s style of play.
Another player that might be in need of replacement is forward Devon Sandoval. With only four goals to his name (three of which in his rookie season in 2013 and none in 2014) in his three year career, the 29th overall pick in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft has been a dud and hasn’t shown much improvement in 2015. While his holding skills as the holding center-forward have improved slightly, he just doesn’t seem to have the speed, the touch, the passing or the shot to be an effective forward in MLS. Even with the internationals not in play, Sandoval probably won’t see much more playing time because of the recent success of Sebastian Jaime in the center-forward position, it might be time to ship him off to another MLS team and sign a new holding forward to replace Saborio in the near future.
Whatever happens in the coming days of the MLS transfer window, RSL needs to fix their inconsistent play quickly. With the crucial months of September and October rapidly approaching, RSL has to gain some ground over the summer and put themselves in position to fight for the last couple of playoff spots in the brutal Western Conference. Three road points against their rocky mountain rival Colorado Rapids could be just the kick-start the club needs to catapult themselves back into the Western Conference playoff picture.
SANDY, UT – APRIL 19: Nat Borchers #6 of Real Salt Lake and Maximiliano Urruti #37 of the Portland Timbers try for the ball during their game at Rio Tinto Stadium April 19, 2014 in Sandy, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images)
