This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Sandy • Real Salt Lake coach Jeff Cassar is getting exactly what he earned, a one-year opportunity to produce a much better finish than his team delivered in 2016.
Javier Morales deserved a better ending of his RSL playing career. Nobody associated with the soccer club can feel good about his unceremonious departure, with RSL not picking up his option for 2017 — and maybe, just maybe, manipulating the lineup in the final regular-season game to keep that from happening.
Yet the common theme involving Cassar and Morales is that RSL is making good business decisions in this offseason. Cassar would like to have received a three-year, guaranteed contract and Morales says he wishes he could stay for another season at age 37.
Those would not be practical moves for the team, though. So here's another dual effect of RSL's recent decisions: Cassar has to prove himself in 2017 and, in the process, he and general manager Craig Waibel have to deliver a product that justifies Morales' departure.
In their news conference Thursday at Rio Tinto Stadium, prior to Morales' full-blast commentary in downtown Salt Lake City, Cassar and Waibel acknowledged they don't have a player who can do what Morales did for RSL as a creative, attacking performer. So they have to find a replacement, develop one or build an offense that covers his absence.
Cassar's contract is guaranteed for one year, with "triggers" — remember that word — for a potential two more years, he said. With a dramatic fade at the end, Cassar's team went 12-10-12 to finish sixth in the Western Conference, claiming the last playoff seed before losing 3-1 to Los Angeles in the playoffs. The West is tough, and the judgment of Cassar will become more stringent.
"Yeah, absolutely. I think the standards increase," Waibel said. "Every year … the expectations should go up."
And that's why Cassar shouldn't be promised anything beyond 2017. The reality is that his performance may become a tiresome subject throughout next season, but that's fair. Major League Soccer is not like college football, where the perception of a coach's security affects recruiting. Professionals should be able to deal with the scrutiny of their coach, and I believe RSL's players will respond to Cassar's employment quest.
"I completely understand," Cassar said. "If I don't do well, why should I have a job? If we do well, we'll have a job. And I can wrap my head around that, I really can. Would I want it some other way? Absolutely. I mean, I think we all would. But I'm a young, hungry coach."
Morales is not a young player, raising questions about what role he would have played in 2017. Regardless, he deserves tremendous appreciation for his impact on RSL, with two MLS Cup final appearances and one championship.
As for what happened Oct. 23 in Seattle, when Morales didn't start a game that could have knocked RSL out of the playoffs, I have to trust Waibel's description of a "tactical decision by the coaching staff." The fact is, starter Luke Mulholland scored RSL's only goal.
If he had started for a 24th time in 2016, Morales said, that would have triggered his contract option for 2017. As it was, Morales entered in the 64th minute of the 2-1 defeat (RSL still made the playoffs, due to Portland's loss).
It is not as if Morales was inserted in the first half, which would have made the circumstances really suspicious. But let's just say there's enough of a conspiracy element to extend the conversation about his exit, and that's unfortunate for everybody.
As of Thursday morning, Waibel was suggesting Morales conceivably could return to RSL, but that's obviously not going to happen. The club must follow through in properly honoring him at some point, while Cassar and his former teammates play on without him.
Twitter: @tribkurt