Wasatch Soccer Sentinel

Before we get to the player ratings, I think we need to talk about this game and about CONCACAF Champions Cup.

In 2014, Real Salt Lake qualified for the 2015–16 CONCACAF Champions League. It’s the last time this team played in the competition, and they came up against an extremely dominant Tigres. In 2012, RSL appeared again, losing out in the weird three-team group stage to CS Herediano. In 2011, the team lost what still remains the biggest match in their history, losing to Monterrey in a fiercely contested two-legged affair.

We have waited nearly a decade to watch Real Salt Lake in this competition, and it’s hard to overstate just how poor they were. The team wasn’t ready, the roster wasn’t ready, and the club management wasn’t ready. We’ve been waiting to play important soccer, and this was a golden opportunity. And while I think Mastroeni shoulders some of the blame for this match and the players shoulder some blame for this match, the front office shoulders the some of the share, too. Real Salt Lake went into the season without a striker of even an MLS-average level. It’s inexcusable, especially when they knew months ago that Chicho Arango would be leaving and when Elias Manoel failed to report for preseason — that was over a month ago. Champions Cup was right here, and the club has completely squandered it.

After a 4-0 loss to San Jose Earthquakes, Real Salt Lake looked like a team motivated to right some wrongs. They went up 1-0. They looked like they might concede, but they skated by. A baffling triple-substitution later, and Herediano immediately scored.

• Cabral (GK) — 6: Didn’t have much of a chance on their goal, made a good stop or two. He did give up that game-ending penalty, but I dunno. It was sort of desperation time, and he was essentially alone.
• Hidalgo (RB) — 5.5: Not overly effective. Not overly ineffective.
• Henry (CB) — 5: He wasn’t great. He wasn’t the worst.
• Vera (CB) — 4: I’m not a big fan of Brayan Vera’s hot-headedness or his penchant for wandering out constantly, but I recognize his general quality. We didn’t see even an ounce of that. This was a sloppy, ugly showing.
• Junqua (LB) — 6: I don’t think he’s a great wing back, which seems largely to be the role he’s being asked to play, but I thought he was good enough on the night.
• Eneli (CM, off 70’) — 7.5: I dunno, this guy is good. I have no idea why he came off. A criminal decision from the coaching staff that felt more planned than it did tactical. He came off, and it robbed the team of their only particularly worthwhile midfielder on the defensive side of the ball. While trying to “protect” a lead, Pablo Mastroeni took the team’s captain off the pitch. It led to immediate collapse. One mustn’t ignore that he also had more key passes than any other player, and he wasn’t around for the late flurry.
• Palacio (CM, off 80’) — 4.5: Immediately after a triple substitution, Palacio was at fault in conceding in the 70th minute. He dribbled into immediate pressure and lost the ball. He’d had plenty of poor moments before that moment, but that one takes the cake. He let the ball roll rather than control it or pass it, and
• Marczuk (RW, off 69’) — 7.5: He had a great assist on the goal and was RSL’s best creative player on the night. Taking him off was a mistake.
• Brook (CAM, off 59’) — 5.5: While he looked more active and involved in this match than the first leg, he’s not a good central attacking player. He was far too eager to shoot and generally not a great creative outlet. Still, head and shoulders above last time out.
• Goncalves (LW, off 69’) — 6: A significant improvement from Diogo. It still wasn’t great, but he had some good opportunities and was creative.
• Ajago (CF) — 5: Gets a point for scoring a nice goal, loses half a point for missing a substantially easier one. He then loses another point for taunting an opposing attacker in his defensive third before giving the ball away. That last one was one of the absolute stupidest things I’ve seen in a Real Salt Lake game. You get to celebrate scoring a goal. You do not get to celebrate a simple cutback in your defensive third. Cut that out now. The good will he earned by being the only fit forward at the club — and that not being his fault — is quickly going to vanish with antics like this.

Substitutes

• Luna (on 59’) — 6: Active, chased down play, but he simply didn’t have the support he needed.
• Ojeda (on 69’) — 5: Shrug.
• Wolff (on 69’) — 5: He didn’t do much of note.
• Ruiz (on 69’) — 6: Some nice corners and set pieces.
• Gozo (on 80’) — N/A: Not on long enough for a rating, but he dribbled at players with the ball and played with a lot of bravery. It’s starting to look like we’ve got a player with incredible potential on our hands.