Real Salt Lake will look to rebound on the road against the Houston Dynamo in Saturday’s match at Robertson Stadium. After starting the Major League Soccer campaign in fine fashion, RSL has slowed down in terms of attaining points. RSL has struggled on the road throughout the season and has eight road games remaining on the schedule. The state of Texas has not been a kind place to the RSL club; the team has gone a combined 0-14-2 in regular season contests against Houston and FC Dallas since entering the league in 2005.
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“There are 12 games left and 36 points available,” RSL coach Jason Kreis said. “It’s all to play for still. “We’re a strong enough team that we shouldn’t have the road record we have right now. We should be better.”
RSL currently sits in fifth place in the Western Conference at 36 points, four behind Colorado. The road to the playoffs will not be easy despite the vast number of matches left.
“We’re kind of treading water a little bit,” midfielder Kyle Beckerman said. “We need to start to pick up points.”
Points will come when the team starts producing goals on the road. The current RSL road goal-less drought of 307 (MLS) minutes is the fifth-longest in the club’s seven-season history. The team’s inability to finish on the road in the final third has been problematic.
Newly signed Blake Wagner will be available and will provide some depth for the club. The injuries have been the one constant occurrence all season.
“We’ve kind of had our eye on having a left-footed outside back for a long time,” Kreis said. “We’ve had our eye on Blake for a long time. It was a wait-and-see move. I think he fits into our system well … it’s going to take some time for him to completely understand what we’re asking of him, but we do feel like it was a fortuitous move.”
For now, RSL must focus and place forth a sturdy performance in Houston. Once again, an aggressive battle awaits RSL in lone star state.
(image courtesy of George Frey/Getty Images)
