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SALT LAKE CITY — The regular season begins on Saturday for Real Salt Lake, and a report came out on Tuesday that could impact the team's road to a repeat playoff berth.
Athletic writer Pablo Iglesias Maurer reported Tuesday that MLS is set to announce a new expanded playoff format for 2023, including a three-game series in the first round and a play-in, or wild card game, for the eighth- and ninth-seeded teams in each conference.
The reaction to the moved was mixed, at best. With 18 of the 29 MLS teams included in the proposed playoff model, the belief is it could dilute the importance of the regular season and lower the standard and meaning of making the playoffs.
For RSL, a club that has made the playoffs in 12 of its 18 seasons, the road to a 13th playoff berth might have gotten a little easier on paper, but the journey to the 2023 MLS Cup playoffs will surely have no shortage of tests for the Claret and Cobalt's depth, talent and perseverance.
Saturday's road match against the Vancouver Whitecaps is the first of potentially 52 games on the schedule in 2023 for RSL, including two in-season tournaments and a likely run in the playoffs at the end of the regular season.
The team's depth was tested early last season due to a barrage of injuries, with captain Damir Kreilach missing almost the entire season and several other starters missing considerable time. While the team lost Aaron Herrera and Sergio Cordova in the offseason, it added more talent in almost every area of the field.
Colombian Brayan Vera replaces Herrera in the defense, and first-round draft pick Ilijah Paul plays up top where Cordova started. The middle of the field was also bolstered with offseason acquisitions, such as record transfer Andres Gomez playing on the wing and loanee Moses Nyeman more centrally.
New #RSL loanee Moses Nyeman speaks with media for the first time. pic.twitter.com/wh98aTkS6t
— Caleb Turner (@calebturner23) February 20, 2023
And that doesn't even include the additional pieces RSL added during the season last year in Costa Rican national team mainstay Bryan Oviedo and promising young midfielder Braian Ojeda.
Yes, you read that right: RSL brought in three new players with variations of the name Bryan over the last six months. Vera has yet to arrive in Utah, leaving the team somewhat thin at the back line for the time being, which means the 33-year-old Oviedo is a likely starter at left back this week, just a couple of months removed from playing in the World Cup.
As for the rest of the starting lineup for RSL, it should be very similar to how it ended last season: Zac MacMath at keeper, Justen Glad and Marcelo Silva at center back, Andrew Brody at right back, Ojeda and Pablo Ruiz in the center of the midfield, with Damir Kreilach in an attacking midfield role, and prized winger Jefferson Savarino on either flank.
Captain Damir Kreilach on the preseason, his match fitness and preparing for the start of a long season. #RSLpic.twitter.com/VhbzQW5NQH
— Caleb Turner (@calebturner23) February 20, 2023
The two remaining questions for the week are the other wing spot and striker up top, with Gomez still getting acclimated after arriving in the U.S. just two weeks ago and Rubio Rubin suspended for the season opener after a red card in the final game of 2022.
The most likely option up top would be speedster Anderson Julio, who has typically come off the bench more during his time in Utah. The other winger will be either Justin Meram or Maikel Chang if Gomez can't go, with both playing significant minutes last season.
As far as his team's preparation for the season opener, head coach Pablo Mastroeni said he's tried to instill a sense of urgency in the lead-up to each of their preseason matches so far this year.
"I think we prepare the way we want to execute at the weekend from Day 1, whether it was going to LAFC after 10 days of being in camp," Mastroeni said. "That's really the culture of this group, which is not taking any training session for granted, and being very deliberate in the stuff that we want to work on and the stuff that we want to see in each game thereafter."
It's officially match week for #RSL and Pablo Mastroeni breaks down the transition from preseason to regular season and a lot of other stuff too. pic.twitter.com/vE1cnU8LtI
— Caleb Turner (@calebturner23) February 20, 2023
Mastroeni said he saw the "genesis" of the team's promise and buy-in from that first preseason game against LAFC — which RSL won 2-0 against the reigning MLS champs — and witnessed the culmination of its preseason preparation last week in a 5-0 win over the Chicago Fire.
"Now, (after) six weeks of preseason we kept the things building, and I think we've done great progress," Kreilach said. "Hopefully, at the end of the day, we're going to see this (progress) during a long, long season."
RSL kicks off against Vancouver at 8:30 p.m. MST on Saturday. All matches this season are streamed on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. T-Mobile recently announced free MLS Season Pass memberships for all of its subscribers.
