This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Santa Clara, Calif. • The focus of the final au revoir to Buck Shaw Stadium was finding a way to grab a result and avoid a sudden two-game losing skid on the heels of a six-game unbeaten streak. Real Salt Lake did that Saturday night in its 1-1 draw with the San Jose Earthquakes.
RSL, now 11-5-10 and at 43 points, weathered San Jose's counter-attack headlined by the emerging 19-year-old attacker Tommy Thompson to keep pace somewhat with Seattle, L.A. and FC Dallas atop the West.
"Any time a team's with their back against the wall, a lot of times, that's when they're most dangerous. It's a credit to Coach [Mark] Watson and his staff," RSL coach Jeff Cassar said. "They don't quit. That's been one of San Jose's m.o.'s is that they don't quit and they didn't do that tonight. It's a credit to them."
Cassar said on the small field at Buck Shaw, the Quakes were able to pressure RSL in its possession-based attack easier than most simply because of tactics.
"When they're compact as they were defensively, they're closer to close down, so there's not as much space, which they did a good job of that," he said. "I think if we move the ball with a little bit more urgency, we can break them down. We did them at times, just not enough."
Defender Chris Schuler said avoiding back-to-back road losses to Western Conference was an accomplishment ahead of Saturday's rematch with FC Dallas at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy.
"It's definitely a tight race and we never want to take two losses in a row," he said. "Good to get points on the road."
Said Cassar of hosting FC Dallas and hitting the road for CenturyLink Field the next Friday night: "You definitely don't want to give up any points to either team. I would think taking care of business at home and then going and playing a solid Seattle team at home or getting a point — or three points — would be our goal. But you definitely don't ever want to lose ground of teams right now."
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Revenge? Redemption? • He didn't mince words. When asked about being able to exorcise the club's 2-1 loss to 10-man Dallas on Aug. 22, Cassar said, "This one I want."
"I think our whole team wants it, I think our whole club wants it," he said. "It's not a must-win or anything, but we want this one. I think it's a game, again, where we're going to have a lot of possession."
Defender Nat Borchers said RSL knows the dangers of Dallas winger Fabian Castillo, who burned the club for a goal in that 2-1 win in Frisco, Texas.
"They're a team that's just happy kind of sitting in, taking a little bit of absurd in the possession game," Borchers said. "We're going to have to attack."
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#JaimeWatch • I asked Jeff Cassar after the 1-1 draw if there was a scenario in which he envisioned new DP Sebastian Jaime making his Real Salt Lake debut Saturday. The 27-year-old forward trained all week with the club and traveled to the Bay Area, but didn't see time.
"I think in that type of heated battle, it would almost be unfair to him to put him into that situation," Cassar said. "And on top of that Robbie Findley [who entered in the 79th minute] knows that game, knows that scenario. I thought he actually did a really good job when he came on and almost pulled off a really nice shot there that [Victor] Bernardez blocked.
"We want to introduce [Jaime] when the time is right."
My totally uninformed two cents: I think it was paramount for the club to get Jaime acclimated to a week of training, involved in the process of traveling with the team, becoming more familiar with his teammates before being thrown to the wolves on the road.
With Joao Plata away with the Ecuadorian national team for two international friendlies, the pressure to play — or even start Jaime — will increase in a massive match at home to FC Dallas Saturday night.
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Mansally's inclusion, Morales' return • Cassar said the inclusion of defender Abdoulie Mansally in Saturday's starting XI was not a result of struggles by incumbent Chris Wingert.
"We want to try and get a rotation," he said. "We haven't had anyone to really help Chris out except Carlos [Salcedo] in that scenario. We're getting toward the end of the year, we want to be mindful of points of rest for everyone and try to stay as fresh as possible."
Cassar said he thought Javier Morales, in his first match since the club's 3-0 win over D.C. United on Aug. 9, was fantastic. RSL's 34-year-old maestro had been working through a pestering hip injury picked up in the win against D.C., but finally worked his way through it.
"With being out and only having three really quality trainings to prepare," Cassar said, "I thought he was outstanding. To be able to go as long as he did with high quality as he did was just amazing. Thought he ran out of juice a little at the end, he's been sitting on three yellow cards and that was the thinking."
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Bye-bye, Buck Shaw? • "I'm not going to miss Buck Shaw too much, to be honest."
Borchers' sentiment will no doubt ring throughout MLS as the Earthquakes move into their brand-spanking-new soccer-specific stadium across the street from San Jose International Airport in 2015. RSL's last visit to Buck Shaw was as weird, as usual. The club finishes 4-4-1 there all time. The new stadium will seat up to 18,000 spectators, have a European roof design covering all stands to hold sound into the building and be an open-air stadium with natural grass.
"Definitely looking forward to them moving into a new stadium," Borchers said.
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I'm not going to miss Buck Shaw. The press box is otherworldly humid with the stench I will decide not to divulge.
My question to whoever reads: What must RSL do to snag at least four points in next two matches?
-Chris Kamrani
Twitter: @chriskamrani