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Sandy • Real Salt Lake will be without defender Chris Schuler at least until the club officially enters postseason play, that much coach Jeff Cassar confirmed Friday after training. Schuler suffered a broken nose and three separate fractures in his eye orbital bone in last Sunday's 1-0 loss at Chivas USA after colliding with teammate Nat Borchers in the first half.
The club has sought out several different opinions from several different specialists on the proper course of treatment, Cassar said. What remains now is what route the club and Schuler will take.
"There's a chance he might not need surgery," Cassar explained. "So he'll be out until the playoffs because there's a healing process, but there's also a thought of going in and having surgery, and I think we have to wait and see how his eye heals in the next 7-to-10 days."
I asked Cassar if he's ever seen an injury similar to Schuler's, and RSL's coach said he has, but not to this extend of breaks.
"This one's pretty significant," he said. "We've gotten some feedback where surgery isn't quite necessary, only if the healing process happens a certain way. If the healing process doesn't happen a certain way, then you have to have surgery."
Fellow RSL scribe James Edward of The Deseret News asked Cassar if there's a chance Schuler could not be able to play the remainder of the season. Cassar said he doesn't know yet.
"I think if we go a certain route and see if it heals and it doesn't, that's obviously going to push him back even further. But this is an important thing around his eye ball," Cassar said. "If not done the correct way, he could lose a little bit of vision and things like that. We're trying to do what's best for him, for sure, first and foremost and then also: Can he join us again?"
If and when Schuler returns in the postseason, Cassar said he wouldn't be surprised to see his 6-foot-4 center back needing to sport some type of protective face gear.
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Nos vemos, LD • Friday night will be the last time the most-recognized and decorated American soccer player ever takes the field in the Stars & Stripes and the last time he walks off the field. Landon Donovan will play in his final match with the U.S. men's national team Friday night against Ecuador in East Hartford, Conn. In his 15-year career with the national team, he's recorded 57 goals, 58 assists, 12 World Cup appearances and five World Cup goals.
Donovan announced in August that he would be retiring both from the international scene as well as the professional ranks. He has 10 goals and a league-leading 19 assists in MLS this season. He's scored 144 goals in MLS and accounted for 136 assists in his career.
So does Cassar ever remember being scored on by Donovan?
"I've got to imagine one of his [goals] were probably against me," Cassar said. "I'm sure he scored a few goals and got a couple assists."
Cassar was in goal for a Donovan brace on Sept. 27, 2003. Donovan's San Jose Earthquakes beat the Dallas Burn 5-2 at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, Calif.
"What an ambassador for U.S. soccer, for the MLS and for young American players," Cassar said. "His quality, the way he takes care of himself, the way he conducts himself off the field and on the field, he really has been an idol for so many players. You're starting to see the next wave of national-team players. Listen, Landon paved that way."
Defender Chris Wingert, who has been tasked with marking Donovan since 2004, said what most around soccer in this country believe.
"Hard to understate it: He's the greatest American player of all time, and in so many respects, he's meant the most to our country in a time when I think we really took huge step to the next level as a national team and he's been the guy carrying that torch for 15 years now, which is really remarkable," Wingert said. "He just does an incredible job of keeping himself in great shape. I feel like for a 12, 15 year span he was almost never injured and playing in every game. Not only for L.A. or whatever club team he was on, but for the national team. That's why when he needed a little bit of a break, I totally understood it and I don't think that people have a right to give him too much of a hard time for that. He's an incredible ambassador for the game. He's just the greatest American player ever and hopefully we'll have a couple more of those in this next generation."
Asked if he thinks Donovan, at 32, could keep playing, Wingert laughed.
"100 percent," he said. "He's still one of the fastest guys on the field, he's definitely one of the fittest, he's playing at an incredible level. I mean, the level he's playing at right now, he could be the MVP. He's just playing so well, so there's no reason in my mind that he couldn't play at the same level for another five years, but at the same time, I totally respect the fact that he wants a little break."
Wingert said it will be weird seeing Donovan subbed out early in his final match with the USMNT tonight. "But if he ever changes his mind, if I was part of the team that he wanted to come back to, I would be all for it."
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'Make them wilt' • With the kind of loss RSL endured at Chivas USA Sunday, it's not all that surprising that most questions this week have been about the recent struggles down the stretch. Cassar explained his thoughts on the match — and going forward — with a bit more fire than we're used to seeing.
"Listen, at the end of the day, we had 75 percent possession, they had 25," he said. "There was one soccer team that was playing soccer on the field. We weren't able to break them down. That all it comes down to. We didn't turn into a bad team or anything, we just weren't able to break them down for many different reasons. We've got 49 points. We earned those points and no game is easy in this league and if you don't come out with the right quality and intensity and commitment, you end up paying the price. We just didn't penetrate them enough. We played in front of them too much. That's it.
"We've played very good in a lot of our losses. In this game, we didn't play horribly, we just weren't aggressive enough. We didn't put them on their heels, we just possessed in front of them and we're not going to do that against San Jose."
Cassar used Wednesday's match between the Earthquakes and Portland Timbers as what he hopes to achieve against San Jose Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium.
"I expect them to come out with a bright start, a lot of energy, but it's our job to take that away," he said. "When you look back at the Portland-San Jose game, it was even for 30 minutes. It was a battle. Then you start to add pressure, they start to wilt and then you start to take advantage of them and that's what we're going to have to do is come out and not just match their intensity, beat it here at home, make them wilt and then take over the game."
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-Chris Kamrani
Twitter: @chriskamrani