Seattle • Decades before Garth Lagerwey became the general manager of Real Salt Lake, he shared the field with the likes of Kyle Beckerman and Nick Rimando. It was 1999, and Beckerman and Rimando, now RSL legends, were in their rookie seasons as Major League Soccer players in Miami.
Lagerwey eventually helped RSL win its first and only MLS Cup championship in 2009 as part of a years-long run of dominance in the Western Conference. He left after the 2014 season to join the Seattle Sounders front office.
But even though he’s now on the opposite side of a rivalry that continued Wednesday night in the semifinal round of the 2019 MLS Cup Playoffs, Lagerwey still has fond memories of his time in Salt Lake.
“I’ve been really happy that, since I’ve left, the team’s continued to have success,” Lagerwey told The Salt Lake Tribune at CenturyLink Field before kickoff.
The Seattle GM has admired RSL’s team from afar. He gave credit to former RSL GM Craig Waibel for building a team that has made the playoffs three of the previous four seasons. He also said he has modeled how he runs things with the Sounders after “what worked in Salt Lake and what didn’t.”
At the same time, Lagerwey thinks the recent success RSL has enjoyed could be short-lived if the recent front office turmoil isn’t fixed soon. He recalled having former coach Jason Kreis for six or seven years while with RSL, and that the business side under Bill Manning was “very much aligned” with the soccer side of the organization. That’s what allowed RSL to have consistent success at the time, he said.
“This is a team that in the last couple of months has lost its USL manager, its MLS manager and its MLS general manager,” Lagerwey said. “Those are arguably three most important spots on your technical side. So in terms of what the future holds, those are decisions they have to get right.
“That’s what’s going to determine whether this lasts or doesn’t last. … I do think they have some good young players coming through in terms of the system. But that alone is not enough.”
Aside from Beckerman and Rimando, Lagerwey has connections with people all across the RSL organization. Current RSL interim general manager Elliot Fall worked for him for several years, he said, and he hired Freddy Juarez into the RSL Academy. Juarez is currently the club’s interim coach.
So when he either visits Salt Lake or or RSL visits Seattle, Lagerwey makes sure to spend some moments with his former colleagues or teammates. He said he had dinner with Fall on Tuesday night, and greeted Juarez with a hug in the RSL locker room earlier this season.
“It’s fun to see friendly faces,” Lagerwey said. “We’re going to the best we can to try to win a soccer game [Wednesday]. But it’s fun to have friends on the other side too.”
RSL won the 2009 title against the L.A. Galaxy, but it was at CenturyLink Field. Lagerwey said that while Beckerman and Rimando — the only holdovers from that squad — may have feelings about returning to the site where they won it all, he may be too far removed from it.
Beckerman said earlier this week that he wants RSL to make a new memory at the Seattle stadium during this playoff run. Lagerwey has other plans for his current team.
“Obviously it’s our job ... to make sure that they don’t get a repeat of those memories,” Lagerwey said.
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