By Michael C. Lewis

| The Salt Lake Tribune

The good news is that coach Jason Kreis said "there’s little doubt" that Real Salt Lake’s Kyle Beckerman is "going to be a fixture in the national team" this year, based on his conversations with national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

The bad news?

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Might not be any, actually.

That’s the way Kreis is looking at it, having finally grown comfortable with the man who will replace Beckerman — Yordany Alvarez — when the veteran defensive midfielder and team captain is away from RSL this season.

"It does cause some problems," Kreis said. "He’s a leader, he’s a central figure on our team. But last year, we feel like we identified the guy who could step up and fill his shoes when he’s gone. And that’s something that we hadn’t done, in the prior three years. He was the one guy that I never quite felt like we had — a guy who could step in and do a job, even for one game. It just felt like we would always be different."

Coaches had mostly relied on Jean Alexandre to back up Beckerman in recent seasons, but RSL traded him to San Jose last month after Alvarez arrived on loan from minor-league Orlando City last year and changed the way they viewed the back of their midfield.

The plan

Having spent a few days in Utah, RSL will travel to Arizona on Tuesday to begin a two-week training camp that will include three practice games.

Goalkeeper Nick Rimando and rookie midfielder Enzo Martinez are expected to join the team there, while forward Paulo Jr. will see his first training camp action after just joining the team in Salt Lake City on Sunday.

Injury report

They’re all still rehabbing from injuries or surgery, but defender Nat Borchers, forward Alvaro Saborio and midfielders Javier Morales, Will Johnson and Beckerman all will make the trip to Arizona so they can work with team trainers on the recoveries.

Of the group, Morales is expected back first, with Johnson and Beckerman not far behind. Borchers and Saborio might miss the start of the season, however.

Young and excited

Nobody was more excited to be joining RSL in training camp than 20-year-old Sebastian Velasquez, the team’s second-round draft pick from Spartanburg Methodist College in South Carolina.