Enemy Scouting Report - Real Salt Lake
(image via Real Salt Lake)
The Houston Dynamo’s last match was back on April 26 against Tampa Bay Rowdies during the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup tournament, as their weekend match against LAFC was rescheduled to June. There was speculation that we could possibly see some first team players feature with Dynamo 2 on Sunday, just to see none of the guys on the team sheet. Resting the guys might have been the right decision going into a grueling month full of matches, which starts off against Real Salt Lake.
Former Houston Dynamo assistant coach to Tab Ramos, Pablo Mastroeni, has his team currently outside looking in on the playoff standings. Going into his third season as the head coach for RSL, Mastroeni has done a lot with very little. The team has gone through an odd ownership history in recent years, but have never been known to be big spenders, having to rely often on home grown talent and college draft picks. Which, in all honesty, they tend to hit on very well.
This season, Real Salt Lake has started off at a slow pace. They have dropped points at their home, America First Field, including a trashing loss by league newcomer, St. Louis CITY SC that ended in a 4-0 defeat. The team from Utah plays very similar to Houston, where they defend well and don’t create many scoring opportunities. But in their four regular season road games, they won one and lost the rest.
Here are some of the players that Houston will need to contain. Jefferson Savarino, the Venezuelan number 10, is currently in his second stint with the Claret and Cobalt. He currently leads the team with 3 goals and 3 assists and is always dangerous when approaching the opponent’s box. Another player to watch is captain Damir Kreilach. The veteran has a more limited role coming off the bench some games now. However, he turns the sails on the team’s morale, always pushing the attack looking for a goal. Lastly, college draft pick Bertin Jacquesson made his debut last weekend against Seattle Sounders, where he played 34 minutes, but looks to be able to spark the team offensively. He might be a key component if Mastroeni looks to use breakaways against the Dynamo, as the best means of scoring goals.
Real Salt Lake Regular Season Record: 3W-5L-1D
Results in the last 30 days:
April 1 – Columbus Crew 4-0 Real Salt Lake
April 8 - Real Salt Lake 3-1 Charlotte FC
April 15 – FC Dallas 2-1 Real Salt Lake
April 22 - Real Salt Lake 3-1 San Jose Earthquakes
April 26 - Las Vegas Lights FC 1-3 Real Salt Lake (USOC)
April 29 - Real Salt Lake 0-0 Seattle Sounders FC
Past Match Staring XI (from fotmob.com)
There will likely be some variation but look to see many of the players in the graphic starting.
2023 Active Roster
Goalkeepers: Zac MacMath, Gavin Beavers, Tomas Gomez
Defenders: Andrew Brody, Brayan Vera, Justen Glad, Erik Holt, Dalentz Pierre, Jasper Loeffelsend, Marcelo Silva, Zack Farmsworth, Bryan Oviedo, Luis Rivera
Midfielders: Pablo Ruiz, Damir Kreilach, Scott Caldwell, Maikel Chang, Emeka Eneli, Diego Luna, Moses Nyeman, Jude Wellings, Braian Ojeda
Forwards: Jefferson Savarino, Andres Gomez, Rubio Rubin, Bode Hidalgo, Ilijah Paul, Berlin Jacquesson, Anderson Julio, Axel Kei, Danny Musovski
As the pressure of perfection gets heavier for the Dynamo, can they continue to win at Shell Energy Stadium?
