Real Salty: Are Times Really Changing At RSL?

Real Salty: Are Times Really Changing At RSL?

Sorare Liga MX @SorareLigaMX_

Santos Laguna has signed Jaziel Orozco from MLS.

This Just In: Justin Meram is in a contract year. [We talked about this, last week, ad nauseum.] The 18-year-old kid in the above photo, Jaziel Orozco, tackled Meram, who is a locker room leader, from behind during the team’s scrimmage, 10 days ago. The next 48 seconds then went something like this:

1. Crusty look from Meram

2. Words were exchanged, reportedly

3. Orozco immediately loaned to Santos Laguna of Liga MX [a few days later]

The good news? RSL can bring back Orozco at their leisure. This is NOT a permanent loan deal. The club was eager to get Orozco more minutes with Santos Laguna and not Real Monarchs as opposed to sending the kid away, for good.

Newsflash: This is a drastic change from how things were, under the old DLH regime. If Orozco goes out like a mercenary and tackles Meram from behind in, uh, say, 2019, he’d have been sent packing to some USL team and it’s doubtful that we’d have ever heard from him again.

For Once, The Club Did Not Let History Repeat Itself.

Breaking News: RSL is also spending money to bring in some talent. I know some fans are saying, well, you can’t put lipstick on a pig and call it anything but what it is [a pig]. Current estimates have the club spending at about 4-6x that of any season during the DLH Era, and more signings are rumored to be in the works.

Cesar Augusto Londoño @cesaralo

Ya hay acuerdo entre el América y la MLS para transferir a Brayan Vera (24) al Real Salt Lake. El jugador ya acordó sus condiciones salariales y se irá a los Estados Unidos. @AmericadeCali @MLS @realsaltlake

That’s a positive, because you can successfully argue there is NO guarantee that this new [because it is new] method of sending defensive players to Liga MX clubs to get more playing time will actually work. [Orozco is the first defensive player on RSL to do this, and so he appears to be the “guinea pig”.]

If it works, I promise you the floodgates will open, and, there will be others like Orozco. We already know the draft-to-1st team method has proven effective with Jasper Loeffelsend. That said, Erik Holt is still on the roster much to the surprise of Sheena and me. [Sheena is on a business trip and will rejoin the podcast, next week.]

To wrap this segment up, Brian cautions the fan base to take these recent changes in alignment and personnel with a grain of salt. [No pun intended.]

RSL Games To See, In 2023

Meanwhile, there’s an actual season that is about to kick off in Vancouver, Feb. 25. There are also preseason friendlies in Arizona that begin this week: [we’ll have a complete recap, next week.] From the Real Salt Lake Website:

Wed., Feb. 8: RSL @ SKC, Timing TBD (closed to the public)

Sat., Feb 11: RSL @ Sacramento Republic at 6:00 PM MT (gated)

Tue., Feb 14: RSL @ El Paso Locomotive FC, Timing TBD (closed to the public)

Sat., Feb 18: RSL @ Chicago Fire at 11:00 AM MT (gated)

At this time, no matches are currently planned to be streamed. Timing for matches subject to change.

Since we cannot WATCH these preseason games, however, it makes more sense for us to talk about the games we’ll be able to see [be that in person, or remotely.]

Brian breaks down some must-see RSL home games for you to go to from April to June and explains why you should spend your hard-earned money and mosey on down [or up] to America First Field [aka Rio Tinto Stadium] to check them out, in the final segment of the podcast.

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