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SANDY — Real Salt Lake's Javier Morales has had plenty of forwards in front of his attacking midfield position.
This year alone, the two spots have been occupied by Alvaro Saborio, Joao Plata, Devon Sandoval, Olmes Garcia and most recently, Robbie Findley.
It’s a rotation that has worked well for RSL (6-0-6, 12 points), the only unbeaten team in Major League Soccer. But the Salt Lake side will face arguably its biggest test of the year against the top team on the league table at CenturyLink Field in Seattle.
“Right now it’s working,” Morales said ahead of Saturday’s matchup against the Sounders (8-3-2, 13 points) at 2 p.m. MT. “We are winning, we are scoring goals, and we will have to see Saturday.”
The rotation won’t go away any day soon, though.
Plata is doubtful for Saturday’s game, though a re-aggravated hamstring injury suffered a week ago appears to be minor enough that he should be back no later than next week’s home match against Portland, according to a team spokesman.
Meanwhile, Saborio, RSL's all-time leading scorer, suffered a foot injury while training with the Costa Rican National Team that ended his bid for his first-ever World Cup berth Thursday, and will also keep him out with RSL at least three months.
Findley is barely working back into game shape himself after offseason surgery. That leaves Sandoval and Garcia, two markedly different players from the other three, for Morales to feed from the top of RSL’s trademark diamond midfield.
“It’s different, because every player is different,” Morales said of his many forward options. “I have to be smart, and I have to know about who I am playing on the team. I have to recognize how they play, and try to do my best to get them to score.”
Whether it’s playing through balls to Findley or launching aerial strikes to Sandoval, Morales will be crucial if RSL hopes to exit the Pacific Northwest with a result. The Argentine playmaker has accounted for four goals and five assists in 2014, the most points among active RSL players. Of Salt Lake’s 23 goals, 12 of them have come from Saborio or Plata, while Morales rates No. 3 on the list.
It's different, because every player is different. I have to be smart, and I have to know about who I am playing on the team. I have to recognize how they play, and try to do my best to get them to score.
–RSL midfielder Javier Morales
Seattle will rely heavily on a striker Obafemi Martins, who has surged since being snubbed by the Nigerian National Team. He has five goals and six assists on the year.
“It’s going to be a great matchup for sure,” RSL defender Nat Borchers said. “They’re really finding themselves now, and a lot of their success has come through Obafemi Martins, his ability to get the ball and make defenders have to make decisions.”
Seattle will be without U.S. internationals Clint Dempsey and DeAndre Yedlin, who are in the same national team camp as RSL stars Kyle Beckerman and Nick Rimando. But a rivalry that has built up in large part through the MLS postseason won’t be any less heated Saturday.
“To go and play there, we know we will miss a couple of players, and they will miss two players,” Morales said. “But it won’t be any different. Both teams will try to win the game, and it will be a battle there. But I hope that we can get the three.”
