This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Sandy • Jeff Cassar and Bill Manning met with media Thursday afternoon inside the One Hundred Lions Club at Rio Tinto Stadium to discuss a bevy of subjects regarding Real Salt Lake's offseason and the upcoming 2015 Major League Soccer season. Technical director Craig Waibel, scheduled to attend, was forced to cancel do to a pressing family matter.
Below is a transcript of Cassar's 17 minutes in the first official scrum of the year. I didn't transcribe the questions verbatim, but they're close enough. Some interesting stuff from RSL's second-year coach ahead of the official start to the 2015 season Friday including possible formation change, possible new center back Elias Vasquez, new left back Demar Phillips, CONCACAF Champions League and why Luis Gil is RSL's newest No. 10. Also mentioned: Cervezas. Happy hunting.
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» On hoping to get more out of the preseason this year …
"Well, we started off 12 games unbeaten last year, so the preseason was pretty good. I think again, with the sports science department, making sure we get everything we can out of the players, but not overdoing it, so we can actually learn to push harder in certain circumstances and then pull back in some other. Hopefully after we get all the results from the testing, we're going to be able to amp it up when we can."
» On CBA talks and if he's worried about a potential players' strike …
"I'm not worried at all. I know the players have their needs and concerns and the owners have their needs and concerns. There's extremely smart people handling this and I really have no worries at all that they'll come together … for what's best for their needs and the league. At the end of the day, nothing changes for my preparation. I'm preparing like our first game is away at Portland and if that doesn't happen, then we start preparing for our home opener. Nothing really changes for me, it's just preparing the players and making sure they're ready."
» On the biggest thing he learned from Year 1 as head coach …
"That I can't cut my own grass anymore. I have to get somebody to cut my grass because I don't have any time. The list is long. I feel that I did some things very good and I thought that the communication between myself and the players was very good. I thought that our team performed well throughout the year. Obviously there was a lot of things we had to manage with the World Cup and things like that, so that was a valuable experience for myself and having to deal with that, there's just going to be more and more hurdles this year with Champions League and dealing with problems with the Monarchs, as well. There's going to be a lot of first-time things, but I lean on my staff for a lot that and ownership has been extremely supportive. Just continuing to strive to get better in every area, even in the areas that I feel I'm strong in."
» On being excited about CONCACAF Champions League and U.S. Open Cup …
"Obviously when you're preparing for MLS teams, you start to know their tendencies and what they eat for breakfast and every single player on their roster," he said. "It is exciting to prepare for different styles, different conditions, different atmospheres, playing surfaces, whatever it is. It's exciting and that brings excitement to the team as well. I'm always looking for ways to make sure the players are motivated."
» On how his Spanish has improved ahead of CCL travel …
"It's good. Bueno. It's good, went on vacation to Mexico, picked up a few more cervezas. I can communicate with the Spanish guys. Obviously I can't do their taxes for them, but my Spanish is pretty good."
» On whether he has travel concerns in CCL year …
"Without a doubt. That's a huge part of it. A lot of it goes to sports science department. It goes back to preparing, and then even more important, having a deep team and even though we get younger, I still think we're extremely deep with experience, whether it's with the youth national teams, whether it's games with the Monarchs, so I'm really excited with where our roster is at for having to deal with those issues."
» On possibly tinkering with new formations …
"You just look at our roster, it's evolving. If you have a lot of midfielders, you play a midfield formation. I think we have a few less midfielders this year, a few more forwards, we've added some speed in the back, so I think, you know, the roster's evolving. We've planned that, but we also planned it knowing what was going to happen during expansion draft."
» On whether or not he foresaw this much change heading into the offseason …
"Obviously to lose Garth, that hits hard. I think Craig's doing a great job. He's hitting the ground running, he's eager to learn, him and I, like Bill said, have a great relationship. And he has a relationship with the players, that's also an important part of that job, even though they're not coaching, the communication level is open and Craig is great at that. I'm looking around the league and there's massive change everywhere when they didn't even have to do it. Where change is tough at times, it's exciting and I think we're well-prepared. We lost two experienced defensive positions and we've replaced them with more experience or the same — if not more — and we get a little bit more faster, a little bit more dynamic in the back. Obviously we lost a lot of leadership, but Jamison's a leader, Demar is a 31-year-old player whose played in many leagues and he's experienced. And Abdoulie [Mansally's] an experienced left back now. He needs an opportunity and I think with the athleticism we have on the outsides, it's going to be another arsenal for us."
» On his relationship with Jason Kreis and if he'll reach out for coaching tips …
"Our relationship's fantastic. Nothing's ever going to damage that at all. Obviously, the communication not what it was, but we're two fierce competitors. We're not going to tip our hat to the other one, but we can go out and have dinner together and operate like that. If that comes to it, maybe I'll reach out, why not? But if he's in the competition I don't think he's going to answer his phone. I'm going to lean more on my staff than anything and I feel really strong about them."
» On how he would rate this roster in comparison to the 2010-2011 roster that made run to CCL final
"I really look and I think our team is faster, we're more athletic, more dynamic, I think it's going to cause other teams a lot more problems than we have in the past. Obviously, we want to still keep that same kind of possession game, but we also want to threaten and be threatening from several different areas and I think when we put out our team, they're going to look and go, 'Who do we focus on here?' I can put on a team right now where you can focus on all 11 and then our bench is going be off the charts as well. It's going to be young, dynamic, powerful and fast. I think that teams are really going to look at us as being threatening."
» On whether or not there remains open competition for starting positions …
"There's open competition everywhere. That's the beauty of possibly changing formation is competition. A lot of times when you play with two forwards, you have six on your roster and they're all good, people start to go, 'When am I going to get my time?' In the midfield, it's an arsenal in the midfield right now with Pecka, Stertzer, Gil, Morales, Mulholland, Beckerman … I can throw out any three or four and have three or four still waiting to get on. Obviously when you lost Nat, you lose Chris, you feel like you're losing a lot in the back, but with Olave and Demar filling in is great. Now Aaron Maund needs to take another step in his progression and contribute and be consistent, and then hopefully if everything works out with [Elias] Vasquez and his signing, I see him being as good, if not better, with more experience than Carlos [Salcedo] is."
» On where he envisions the slew of young defenders drafted or signed fitting into big picture …
"Just even being at the college draft, you draft these players just because they won't contribute to the first team right away and during every one of the meetings with everyone that we drafted, it was very clear to them that, 'If you didn't make our first team, that would you be OK being on our USL team?' Every single one of them [said] yes, and I think the young American players are recognizing that I need to get into the system, I need to get into the environment and prove myself. Our league is growing and getting stronger and stronger, the foreign signings are getting off the charts, the league is getting better, it's not as easy for a young player to come in and step in and perform and I think they're starting to recognize that. And with the Monarchs getting 25 games, now I can go, 'Hey, this is a guy that's played 25 meaningful games in a great environment, whose probably been training with us 60-to-70 percent of the time. Now you can make an impact. That was one of the key questions that we asked all of our college draft picks. With that being said, they're fantastic players. Maybe without the experience, but somebody like Okwuonu … this is a young player that's played with the national team, has a lot of experience that some of the other college kids don't and it's a position we needed to fill which is a right back, somebody who can help Tony [Beltran] out."
» On if speed and agility were a big part of the offseason checklist …
"Absolutely. I think we did a great job of that this past year with making sure players like Ned, Nat, Chris were still playing their best, even at the end of the year, but they played a lot this year. It's something we need to have, so we can stay fast, energetic, athletic and all these young signings and young players on our team provide that."
» On the highs-and-lows of Year 1 as head coach at RSL …
"I tried to never feel high, but the lows were awful. The lows were low. But obviously the lowest low of them all was the last game. No one wants to go out like that. I think it's left a bad taste in everybody's mouth, but I want to delete that game from us. I want us to learn from it and delete it because the season overall was unbelievable. When you lose a majority … five or six players for two months in the meat of summertime, that's not easy. For us to do what we did I think is a massive accomplishment, but I'm really excited about this year. I want to learn from all the mistakes that I made from last year and put them into effect this year."
» On what he'd like to accomplish this preseason and in training camp …
"Dealing with change, dealing with change in the personnel and then obviously trying to implement new things and making sure that the communication between myself and the players is open. Obviously we're going to be doing some new things at times and it's how we deal with that: You can either deal with it being scared of it or you can accept it and really grab it and run with it. All the players that I've talked to — I haven't spoke to all of them about possible formation change — but they're really into it. They're really excited about it. I think it's going to help us with a lot of areas, it's also going to help us with some of the deficiencies that the diamond can also put you in. I think they're really excited about that."
» On Kyle Beckerman's decision to decline USMNT camp spot and stay with RSL during preseason …
"That was 110 percent Kyle's decision. He's an amazing leader and he is very in tune with what's going on with the team, obviously with a lot of change. He recognized that he needed to be here for the team to be there for when we're doing different things in trainings. It was his choice and obviously I loved it. His communication with Jurgen [Klinsmann] was fantastic — they're all on board together — he just wanted to be with the team because he knows that this is a big year."
» On what went into giving Luis Gil the No. 10 jersey …
"You know, listen he plays that position. He's an attacking-minded midfielder and why not? It's exciting, it's new, it can give him a little bit of a breath of fresh air and he deserves it and when you put that jersey on, there's some responsibility that comes with that as well. Hopefully he grabs that and runs with it."
» On if that comes with responsibility to taking the next step as a player …
"I think it's just about being an impactful player all the time. In the locker room, on the field, after games, taking care of yourself, everything, it's about taking that next step and I think he's ready for it."
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Players report Friday for physicals, Saturday will feature physical testing, which will lead way to a very light training session Sunday in Sandy before RSL departs for Casa Grande, Ariz., Monday.
We're off.
-Chris Kamrani
Twitter: @chriskamrani