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SANDY — Real Salt Lake (9-3-2) resumes MLS action Saturday as it travels to take on Chivas USA at the Home Depot Center and remain atop the Western Conference, 29 points, following the last two and a half week break from action.
And with the return of all the club’s International Duty players, RSL is ready for the upcoming match at Chivas.
“Very pleased to have everybody back here and healthy,” said head coach Jason Kreis. “All the guys came back from International Duty healthy, and I think that we’re all very hungry to get this MLS season started again. Hopefully that hunger and willingness to be back together shows up tomorrow night.”
Training sessions this week were quite different than the past two weeks as the club prepares for the next seven days, which include three matches against Western Conference opponents.
“We just needed to lighten the load this week,” said Kreis. “As everybody knows, we worked them very hard the two weeks prior to that, and this week was really necessary to pull back the reins a little bit and make sure that everybody is getting rested and recuperated, still getting in some decent training, but really keeping an eye on having the players not work too hard, not run too much so that we can be fresh not only for (Chivas USA), but for three games this week.”
Kreis and his roster are excited to get back to MLS action and aren’t taking the upcoming three games lightly.
“It’s going to be really tough,” said RSL midfielder Kyle Beckerman. “After you get done with one you’ve got to race as quickly as possible and get ready for the next one, so that’s what we’ll look to do.”
RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando agreed with Beckerman.
“All games in our league are big right now. We’re still atop of the table, which is great, and these are six point games right now — all on the West Coast. Chivas, L.A. and San Jose are huge teams and right behind us, so we just have to keep on working hard and hopefully get those points on the road and at home,” Rimando said.
It's going to be really tough. After you get done with one you've got to race as quickly as possible and get ready for the next one, so that's what we'll look to do.
–Kyle Beckerman
With Beckerman, Rimando, Will Johnson and Alvaro Saborio back with the club, fans can expect to see a lineup that they haven’t seen in about a month.
Fans may also be seeing a bit more of RSL playmaker Javier Morales since his recent battle with injury has only allowed him limited minutes as of late, but Kreis told the media, following Friday’s training session, that Morales may get some significant time Saturday night.
“I think he’s in the mix,” said Kreis. “We’re considering exactly how we’re going to use him, maybe for the starting lineup, we’ll talk to him over the next 24 hours and try to make that decision.”
Following its trip to face Chivas, RSL will return to Rio Tinto Stadium Wednesday to kick off a two-game home stint hosting the Los Angeles Galaxy and the San Jose Earthquakes, both Western Conference opponents.
Kira Terry is a sports writer covering Real Salt Lake for KSL.com. Follow her on twitter, @kiraterry.
