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SANDY -- After a scoreless draw against Houston on Saturday, RSL still looks to fill the void from Morales' absence.
"I think that we're going to have to answer questions about who is going to be the integral figure when we create chances and can other guys get a little more involved and be precisive in attacking third and some of that's just going to take time," said Head Coach Jason Kreis following the match.
Against Houston, Kreis gave second-year midfielder Collen Warner a 60-minute chance to be that ‘integral figure' in the first game following Morales' injury.
Following the match, Kreis expressed his thoughts on Warner's performance. "Some good moments, some bad moments. It wasn't horrible. It wasn't great, either. It didn't check the boxes and answer the questions. He didn't put the flag in the ground and say, 'this position is mine,' that's for sure."
Related:
RSL plays hard but can't find offense without Javi
After losing one of their key players a week ago, RSL players had to set aside their emotions from last week's 37th minute and try to get a win for Morales. They couldn't quite get that done as the match ended in a scoreless tie.Despite Warner's performance against Houston, Kreis also expressed that it wasn't necessarily Warner's only chance to fill the Morales void. "It's going to take some time for him to put his best foot forward. We're not walking out of here saying the job is his and we're not walking out of here saying the job isn't his. We're just saying we've got to improve."
Teammates felt Warner stepped up to a tough spot to fill.
"I think it's going to be a process without Javi. Obviously he's one of the most creative players in the league. So when you lose a guy like that, you're going to notice a difference, but I thought that Collen stepped up and did well," said defender Nat Borchers.
Sunday's upcoming match will be a second test to see if they can find that ‘integral figure' as they travel to Texas to face FC Dallas.
Many players pointed out that they have some stuff to still work on moving forward without Morales, and that it is all about the team coming together.
"Just being on the same page and getting everybody together with our movements and I don't think we created enough chances in the first half (against Houston)," Warner said.
Midfielder Ned Gravavoy knows Morales may be irreplaceable individually, but says they can do it as a team. "Javi's going to be out for a while and we need to move on with it and it needs to be a collective effort because there's one, two, few players in this league that can do what Javier does. So it's got to be a collective group effort in there."
Email: onlinesports@ksl.com
