Three things to watch against San Jose Earthquakes: Jaime, early goals, three at the back

Real Salt Lake takes on San Jose Earthquakes in what's sure to be a scintillating matchup, but one of the only names on our lips is Sebastian Jaime. If you couldn't tell, we're excited.

Last week, we watched for...

Can Luis Gil keep up his play?

It's not like Luis Gil was awful against FC Dallas, but he wasn't as creative as needed him to be. This was not just down to him, though — a playmaker will always look bad when the team plays badly, and Gil is no exception. A bit more impetus in the shot from him wouldn't have gone amiss, though.

How do we manage the speed of FC Dallas?

Cough, cough, sputter. Ugh. Yeah, we didn't really do that as well as we would have liked to, but not for lack of trying. (That would be a real shock.) Actually, we were pretty great with that, barring a few select circumstances. But it's something you have to be great with every time, and having no left back (but having a right back) rendered the occasion tetchy at best.

Do we get a third-straight headed goal from Joao Plata?

It seems like we were close, but a three-week-long hat trick of headers just wasn't to be.

This week, let's watch for ...

How early will RSL score this time?

Obviously RSL has been doing well in scoring goals early, and that's been much to our benefit. Can we keep that up? I don't know tactically how to explain what we do — not yet, at least — but we've just been great at that.

Will Sebastian Jaime see minutes, and will they be significant?

I'm increasingly certain that Sebastian Jaime will see minutes this weekend, despite being very new to the team. He may not know everyone's name yet (I'm sure he caught on quickly — but does he know who, say, Benji Lopez is? Hmm?) but I'd be willing to wager that he's excited to play, and that he's getting to know Joao Plata very well.

As for the significance of his minutes: Any minutes from Jaime are significant. Let's be clear about that.

Will we again try this three-at-the-back thing?

That's a question for Jeff Cassar and not me, but I'm curious. Will we again go to three at the back if we're forced into it? Has that played itself out for a bit? Did we simply try it in the wrong circumstance, and does Jeff Cassar really hold to this three-man back line thing? Maybe we can play with a sweeper, yeah?