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HERRIMAN — For consecutive weeks, Real Salt Lake has sought to prove itself kings of the pride.
It started with a 2-1 home victory over Orlando City, when goals by Sam Johnson and Damir Kreilach snapped a four-match losing skid to take down Kingston, the bulky, dreadlock-clad lion Orlando mascot that bears a striking resemblance to RSL's Leo the Lion.
It continued a week later, when the 2005 expansion team faced newcomers FC Cincinnati and shut out the MLS newcomers — and their mascot Gary the Lion — in a game marked by Albert Rusnak's four-fingered brace and another score by Johnson.
But perhaps the biggest "lion" to conquer will come Sunday, when Real Salt Lake travels to face the Los Angeles Galaxy at 6 p.m. MDT at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California (KMYU, KSL.com). That's when RSL will face a lion of a player — Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the world superstar who has proven to be everything he promised since coming to MLS two years ago.
Nervous much?
Not hardly, according to forward Corey Baird.
"I think it's something you think about before and after the game, but once you step on the field, it's just another game," the reigning MLS rookie of the year said after training at the RSL Academy in Herriman this week. "You can't really think about stuff like that (during a game), or you are just going to be a step behind."
That's not to say there is no preparation. But Real Salt Lake found something in itself in last week's 3-0 shutout of Cincy — and to change too much might hinder whatever worked so well on the road at Nippert Stadium.
Besides, sometimes things just happen. If RSL coach Mike Petke knew the all the answers for pressing the right buttons and getting the perfect result out of his players, Real Salt Lake wouldn't be in the middle of the table in MLS and Petke would probably be in contention for the Manchester City job.
"We've always talked about building blocks and getting to a certain point," Petke said less jokingly. "I don't think we're at that point or that we will ever will be. But that game (against Cincinnati), we trained no differently than any game since I've been here — and we clicked.
"When we put it together and it clicks, that's what you get."
Indeed, RSL found a way to click the same week that the Galaxy were most frustrated. Ibrahimovic, the aforementioned world-class superstar who dubbed himself "the Lion," opened the 2019 season with seven goals in the Galaxy's first five matches. It was enough to power his side near the top of the Western Conference — the Galaxy (6-1-1, 19 points) are just three points off intracity rival LAFC for top of the West.
But in a midweek match Wednesday against sixth-place Minnesota United FC, the Galaxy were shutout — and Ibrahimovic was visibly frustrated in a scoreless draw.
Maybe it the Loons provided a blueprint for keeping the Lion in check. Or maybe RSL just needs to do what it's done the past two weeks — and see if they can make the gameplan "click" against LA Galaxy as it did against FC Cincinnati.
There will be adjustments and scheming and tactics, as there are in all professional sports. Closing down space in the open field, double-teaming Ibrahimovic — especially in the air — with a bigger body like center back Nedum Onuoha, and shutting down passing lanes, for example. That's nothing new; there are a lot of teams that try similar tactics against a lot of world-class players every week.
But maybe the biggest key difference to stealing points off the Galaxy on the road will be in RSL's more unremarkable preparations.
In other words, just stay the course. Don't fix things that aren't broken. Tweak, shore up, patch holes, and evolve. But wholesale changes? Not if there isn't a reason for it.
"Now we do the same thing this week," RSL defender Justen Glad alluded. "It's just another week of preparation for when you have another big body in the box. We’ve been working on it, and Nedum has done a great job on these big guys. Hopefully, we can keep that streak going."
For the third-straight week, RSL faces a mountain of a task against one of MLS's lions. The club will be prepared — at least as much as any team in the league has been against the decorated veteran.
"There's no secret to Zlatan. He's a special player. He’s a world-class player," Petke said. "You could prepare for someone like him for a month straight, and there’s a good chance he’s still going to get that goal or make that magic play, because he’s a phenomenal and special player.
"All we can do is continue to feed them information about what his tendencies are and how we need to defend against him. It gives us a better opportunity to be successful against him, but it doesn’t guarantee anything."
MLS: Real Salt Lake (3-4-1, 10 points) at LA Galaxy (6-1-1, 19 points)
When: Sunday, April 28, 2019 at 6 p.m. MDT
Where: Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California
TV: KMYU
Streaming: KSL.com
