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Sandy • When it's time to make a change, Jeff Cassar's first move this year is typically picking out No. 70 from the group warming up along the northwest sideline of Rio Tinto Stadium.
Real Salt Lake's Jordan Allen is the club's primary impact substitute at the moment. And the third-year attacking midfielder/forward hybrid is utilizing his versatility to inject whatever is necessary in the second half of matches.
"He's an extremely talented player and he knows the situations that he's put in," Cassar said. "Sometimes we're up 1-0 and he goes in, and sometimes we're down 1-0 and Jordan's a really soccer-intelligent player; he knows what the team needs at that time, so he's helping us that way."
The 21-year-old Homegrown player has three goals and an assist in 11 appearances this year. But his position of strength — on the ball and going at defenders — is also the club's deepest. Allen still finds himself behind the likes of Joao Plata, Burrito Martinez and Javier Morales. He's played in the three-man midfield alongside Morales, Kyle Beckerman or Luke Mulholland in spurts, but this year, his impact off the bench has been a plus. Allen scored the late game-winner against the New York Red Bulls on June 22.
"I embrace it," Allen said of his current role. "I don't think of it as being a super-sub, I just think of it as every time I get on the field, I'm trying to prove myself that I should be on the field from the beginning of the game, so that naturally energizes me and is motivation to push and help the team."
When a hamstring tweak forced him to miss the 1-1 draw against D.C. United last Friday, RSL missed that infusion of pace and dribbling ability. Cassar said untimely injuries have snake-bitten Allen's momentum this year.
"He's not too far off being in the starting lineup, as long as he can stay healthy and keep putting performances together," Cassar said.
Mulholland rests
Mullholland, the only RSL player to start all six of the team's matches in June, got a break Saturday. The 27-year-old started eight straight matches across all competitions, starting with RSL's 4-3 loss at Columbus on May 28.
"I definitely felt like [in] a couple of my performances, I've felt heavy-legged in the games and I think that showed in my turnovers and slacking areas," Mulholland said this week. "But the last two or three games, I felt re-energized. Think I've simplified my game."
Rookie midfielder Omar Holness earned his second start in the last three games Saturday against Montreal. The 22-year-old Jamaican made his MLS debut in RSL's 2-0 loss at FC Dallas on June 25.
Cassar on Orlando
Cassar said he, like many around Major League Soccer, was stunned to hear that Orlando City fired longtime coach Adrian Heath this week. Orlando went 16-18-16 in 50 MLS matches under Heath's watch after the club entered MLS in 2015.
"I'm very good friends with Adrian, and he's a fantastic coach and a fantastic man," Cassar said. "I know he's very passionate about the club. But that's kind of the business we're in right now … You see the teams that kind of weather the storm just a little bit, and now good things are happening. It is what it is."
Twitter: @chriskamrani