It was a match of fiscal efficiency against fiscal irresponsibility: New York with their well-paid designated players, Real Salt Lake with their modest salary statement well below cap as a small market team. In the end, there was only one winner — The Claret and Cobalt — but blows were certainly struck for that ineffable team spirit Real Salt Lake exhibit week-in-week-out, even in the worst of circumstances.
But the worst of circumstances these were not. Our key playmaker, he who serves delectable passes to drive the team forward on any given match day, traveled with the team (though he was never going to play against New York): Certainly a boost for spirits on the planes and buses the team takes.
To start the match against the cash-heavy Red Bulls, we scored. And we scored. And we scored a third time. Three major mistakes, three goals: It doesn’t get much better than that after 21 minutes of play. It was like I was watching a dream, or perhaps a television sports drama in which the downtrodden misfits show the big boys from the big city exactly what it means to win and to win well.
It’s hard not to be effusive. Five games, five wins, fifteen points, and none of them in circumstances in which a win seemed exactly tacked on. Three against New York, two against Seattle, two against Philadelphia, and a goal apiece against Sporting KC and Chivas. We’ve had to call on our defense, and none of the wins were exactly pretty, but wins they were.
So tonight, without our captain in the suspended Kyle Beckerman, we brought in a lad that hadn’t played at an MLS level in Yordany Alvarez. Who expected him to do well? Likely none of us in not-a-part-of-the-club-in-a-literal-sense camp, as catching an Orlando City game from here in Utah isn’t exactly an easy task. But he was named the USL Pro MVP, and apparently that was a decision made with good reason.
Tonight, he exhibited characteristics that are essential: A brilliant passing rate, good defensive positioning, a willingness to play the ball instead of shoveling it away. It was hard to mistake him for Kyle, of course, but if you just squinted hard enough... well, maybe that wouldn’t work, but the play was excellent. You’d have thought he had been with the team for years by his performance, but no, he’s been with the team for only weeks.
And how could I not mention the brilliance of Alvaro Saborio and Fabian Espindola? We know Fabian doesn’t always make the best decisions, but in the early minutes tonight, he was at the top of his game. He pressured well, winning a ball on the edge of the box and giving him time to round Frank Rost for his first goal, and he played off the shoulder well, making a brilliant run, then he hit the ball first time, and there it was in the back of the net. (With apologies to John Cleese, et al.)
Saborio’s header, too, was great play from his end, losing his marker and rising quite wonderfully to slam the ball into the back of the net. Andy Williams, for his part, made Saborio’s header look quite simple (though I’m sure it was not) by the quality of his corner.
It was a game that seemed rather routine after the first 30 minutes, with RSL dropping back and opting to defend. Given that our shape was a little offset by the presence of Chris Schuler on the left and Will Johnson often on the left-left, perhaps bunkering a bit was necessary, so in that regard, I’d say we performed well. We pushed New York’s play largely to the wing and well outside our box, leaving us to deal (quite easily, I might add) with a number of crosses into the box.
We did give up a goal rather late, but that wasn’t enough for those pesky Red Bulls to make any difference. They’d well and truly given up by that point, and, well, who wouldn’t, when you’re faced with a team like ours?
We’ll soon have Javier Morales back, and it’s hard to imagine things will get worse from there. We’ve expanded our play immensely, and from our ailments, we’ve distilled a number of options and a fighting spirit you’d be unlikely to find in any sort of bathtub gin. (Oh, I amuse myself sometimes, and usually without good justification.)
But seriously: If we’ve been able to survive this long and still score regular goals, what will it be like having a player who can place the ball wherever he pleases? It’s a massive return for us, and not just in consideration of our fighting spirit and team morale.
When they say the “rich get richer” because we’ve got a great player coming back, I’d retort with this: We only became rich through hard work on and off the pitch. That Javier Morales is coming back to a team that’s still in the fight is a credit to our squad, to our coaching staff, to our front office people, to our fans, to everyone in and around the club. The rich are only getting richer because we fought to again become “rich” in that awkward use of the word.
So, five in a row: Are there any signs of stopping yet? It sure doesn’t look like it to me.
Come on you Claret and Cobalt!
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