Saturday, May 23rd 2015: Coming back from a 4-1 loss to Montreal, head coach of Real Salt Lake (3-5-3), Jeff Cassar has been focusing on various improvements to prepare for a competitive contest tonight against NYCFC (1-4-6).
Former RSL head coach Jason Kreis was appointed as head coach of NYCFC in 2013 and will return to salt Lake tonight to face a familiar opponent. Cassar said that he looks forward to seeing his colleague again.
“Once the game starts, you know it’s all business but It’s really nice to see familiar faces. Especially guys that meant so much to the club – we didn’t just create coach to player [relationships], it was friendships. It’s always good to see them.”
Collective efforts: While Real Salt Lake is still recovering from injuries and set backs, Cassar is hopeful to have a full rotation implemented to the team soon. “If everyone steps up, were going to have a better performance. We need to have all 11-18 players contributing, for us to be successful. It can’t come down to the forwards, it can’t come down to the midfielders or the defenders- it’s gotta be a collective effort,” said Cassar.
The team and individual players are developing consistency as they progress towards that equalization. Joao Plata has has been working hard to be able to practice and play in a game, but Cassar would hope to get Plata to the point where he can play with 100% effort.
Cassar would like the team to perform with an aggressive mindset, make good decisions, and have good shapes in case the ball turns over. “Every time that we seem to go too much offensive, we get exposed a little bit in the back,” said Cassar. The goal set for Real Salt Lake is to have 3 goals at home, but would also like to see the defense be able to counteract their opponent.
Real Salt Lake will play NYCFC tonight at Rio Tinto Stadium at 8:00 pm.
LISTEN TO JEFF CASSAR TALK ABOUT UPCOMING MATCH VS NYCFC HERE:
