This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Seattle • As Real Salt Lake fans have grown accustomed to seeing, Joao Plata lowered his center of gravity, dipped his right shoulder and burned past his defender to get in on goal. They've seen that before.

The 25-year-old RSL forward routinely found himself in this position, pacing forward, ball at his feet, the opposition waiting to guess where the Ecuadorian striker will go. Fans have seen that before, too.

But for all the hustle and drive toward Seattle's goal Saturday afternoon, Plata came up empty. Which unfortunately for him and RSL has become a common theme in 2017.

The 1-0 loss to the Sounders was Plata's seventh start of the year and ninth overall appearance. Injuries slowed his start to the year, but a glance at his stat line reveals that in 629 minutes, he has no goals and just one assist.

"I think he's frustrated, and he should be, because he wants to score goals and help the team, but I've been very happy with Plata over the last two, three weeks, I really have been," RSL coach Mike Petke said after the loss. "I think he's going in the right direction."

In his five seasons at RSL, Plata has proved to be as much of a rhythm player as anyone. When he's on, he's a force.

Dynamic, shifty, speedy and with an impressive ability to finish from otherwise difficult angles, Plata's rise at RSL has been encompassed by two banner seasons — his breakout year in 2014 when he had 13 goals and six assists, and 2016, when he led RSL with nine goals and a career-high 12 assists.

RSL needs to find a way to get Plata going and into a rhythm again. As the team still figures out how it wants to play under Petke, an in-form Plata could do wonders for that ongoing transition period. And players know that.

"He's working hard. I see it in the week," RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando said. "It's unfortunate that they're not going in for him, because he's working hard, he's putting the work in and we've just got to keep going and still believe in him. This team believes in him. He put in a lot of work today as you saw. Hopefully they come because he's a big part of this team."

His position has been tinkered with, too. Petke hasn't come out and directly said it, but the three different formations used in one week might've been a test run to see how Plata could find his footing with the current personnel RSL's employing on a game-to-game basis.

On Saturday, it started as an outlet forward. After some substitutions as RSL pressed for an equalizing goal, it changed to more of that familiar wide striker role and Plata eventually had the best chance of the day in the 72nd minute.

Asked if Plata is pressing by trying to take on too many defenders at once, Petke said he welcomes attacking players taking on difficult challenges.

"Someone like Plata feels the game in his experience and where he's coming from, you feel the game," Petke said. "I don't put many restrictions on these guys in the final third. I don't let them have free rein, but I'm very clear if you can isolate someone out wide, I'll never get on you for losing the ball. I want you to go at them."

RSL needs that, and needs it from a player traditionally so successful at putting a sense of fear into the opposition.

ckamrani@sltrib.com Twitter: @chriskamrani —

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