RSL players left hungry for more after early playoff exit

HERRIMAN — Soccer players would always rather be on the pitch than answering questions from the media. That was no more apparent than on Thursday as the Real Salt Lake players filed in one-by-one for exit interviews following Sunday's playoff loss to Austin FC.

Not only would they rather be playing soccer, they thought they should still be in the playoffs fighting for the top prize, and they let their disappointment show.

"We definitely should have won the game in regular time," Aaron Herrera said. "It was heartbreaking to end how it did."

Herrera is a straight shooter and wears his heart on his sleeve. He said what the whole team has probably been feeling since Sunday but wasn't able to say.

He then took it a step further and said the team not only shouldn't have lost, but they shouldn't be in that position as an underdog on the road to begin with.

"We're tired of being the underdog team all the time," Herrera said. "We're tired of going to the playoffs and being the Cinderella team. We want to be a team like Austin, like LAFC, that goes into the playoffs and they're expected to win. We're never expected to win. We're so sick of that."

Herrera's comments were immediately picked up on Twitter by fans and pundits alike, who have defended and relished RSL's gritty, "xDAWG" persona in years past and even leading up to and during the match against Austin.

But just like Herrera, they started to wonder: "What if we weren't underdogs? What if we won more games, scored more goals, and entered the playoffs as a favorite to win it all?"

Enter Jefferson Savarino to the interview room.

Savarino, like Herrera, is 25 years old and has spent enough time at RSL to know what the club is all about, but with one major difference: Savarino has tasted the contender status Herrera covets so badly.

He was transferred to Brazilian club Atletico Mineiro from RSL in 2020 and went on to win six trophies with the club, including a league title in all three seasons and a Supercopa do Brasil in 2022.

"I got very used to winning things," Savarino said Thursday. "A winning mentality is not just one, two or three players. I believe we should all have this hunger to win, and this team certainly has to work on that.

"I'm not saying this team doesn't have a winning mentality, but when we're in these difficult moments like the game against Austin, that's where we have to improve and learn — learn from the experience we had and win mentally to be able to win something for this team."

So how does RSL learn, improve and get to that place with both a winning mentality and ability?

MLS writer Matthew Doyle tweeted following Herrera's thoughts about the underdog status with a five-step plan to put RSL in the top four in the West and earn the Claret and Cobalt a home game in the playoffs.

As Thursday's interviews also marked the unofficial start of the offseason for RSL, it's fitting that several of the steps involve personnel decisions the front office will have to make before the 2023 season begins, including buying forward Sergio Cordova permanently off of his loan from FC Augsburg and finding another talented wing to play opposite Savarino in the attack.

Nearly every player Thursday agreed the team needs to score more goals in 2023. Cordova led the team this year with nine; and with a full offseason and preseason could become entrenched as a solid No. 9 up top for RSL.

Signing another designated player on the wing to help Savarino would surely lead to more goal-scoring opportunities for both wings, in addition to Cordova and others who get on the end of the passes into the box.

We'll leave the other decisions on buying and selling players to the RSL front office, but it's hard to argue against the logic here. Lock down a proven goal scorer and get your most accomplished player some help.

The final piece RSL needs to go from Cinderella to Prince Charming is the crown prince and captain of the Claret and Cobalt himself: Damir Kreilach.

Kreilach missed almost the entire 2022 season with a back injury, but recently re-joined the team in full-group training and every player mentioned they hope to have a healthy Kreilach back in 2023.

The Croatian attacking midfielder is probably past his prime at 33 years old but is the most proven goalscoring threat on the team with 48 goals at RSL and — as Justin Meram so eloquently described Thursday — works to keep his body in tip-top shape.

Kreilach bagged 16 goals during his last full season in 2021, which is as many as Cordova and Savarino scored combined this season.

Head coach Pablo Mastroeni and general manager Elliot Fall are up next for interviews Friday, but as far as the players are concerned, this year wasn't good enough for RSL.

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