Real Salt Lake Officially Begins Preseason, Quest For 2021 Playoff Return

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Real Salt Lake has officially begun their 2021 preseason training schedule with the first session occurring this morning at Zions Bank Real Academy.

For The Crest

The upcoming 2021 season will mark the 17th season in which RSL participates in North America’s top-flight league; Major League Soccer. It also marks the return of Manager Freddy Juarez who is entering his second year at the helm and determined to bring the club back to the playoff picture. His motivation? The fans, the city, and the legacy of the crest.

The club is finally starting to breathe fresh air following a 2020 campaign that saw multiple scandals and disappointing on the pitch results. The catastrophic 2020 season was headlined by the forced departure of owner Dell Loy Hansen who found himself in hot water after making irrational remarks on a local radio station after his team decided to postpone their fixture against LA Galaxy in a show of support for combating police brutality.

"When you look at the three objectives that we wanted to hit, I thought it was a successful exercise from everyone’s point of view.”

— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) March 8, 2021

Leadership Dilemma

Furthermore, the club also lost a handful of key players in Nedum Onuoha and Kyle Beckerman who both hung up the boots following the conclusion of the regular season, leaving a gaping hole in the leadership department.

Juarez admitted on Monday, March 8 that he has sat down with a number of his players to better decipher how that hole is filled.

The playing group continues to hold onto hope that the club can and will return to the playoffs in 2021. Attacking midfielder Albert Rusnak believes that the playing group is in better shape this year than they were last year when preseason training began.

One of the main reasons behind the additional fitness may be due to the progressive intuition by the playing group who gathered during the freezing temperatures throughout winter to collectively work on improving. It started with seven individuals getting together at the training facility, then, week by week, those numbers grew, and shortly thereafter the majority of the playing group was running and workout out together.

A Determined Bunch

The new-look RSL team is determined, or at least, that is how they hope to be depicted.

RSL will spend the majority of their preseason training in Utah before traveling to Arizona for a ten-day stretch that will include three practice matches.

It remains unknown whether or not the practice matches will be available to stream. However, when that news breaks KSL Sports will be the first to report it.