Player Profiles: Jamison Olave

Jamison Olave had a helter skelter season. In what could have been a very glorious return to his original MLS club, Olave's biggest consistency 2015 was his lack of discipline. Over the course of the year, he had three red cards which needless to say did not help Real Salt Lake. Ignoring many other factors, three undermanned matches essentially puts RSL out of the MLS Playoffs. In a league and especially a western conference in which the margin for error is particularly thing, Salt Lake could not afford to basically give up three matches.

For Olave, his two most memorable moments were diametrically opposed. The first was his own goal early in the season that, once again, led to lost points for the club. It occurred against the Philadelphia Union and put the visiting team up a goal. That is a match which you should get the full three points at home. You can see the goal here.

The other moment, a much more positive one, was his goal against Municipal which guaranteed a spot for Real Salt Lake in the CONCACAF quarterfinals for 2016. That goal can be seen here.

There were other moments that stood out as well, such as his red card for a tackle from behind against Portland in what was a must-win game, or the fluky goal against Philadelphia (the same game that he had his own goal), or many saves that were fun to watch. But all in all, Olave did not have the kind of season that he was once capable of.

Man will criticize his lack of games played, but the truth is he did not miss that many more matches than in seasons past. For example, in RSL's milestone defensive season in 2011, Olave played 24 games, only two more than this season.

The bigger issue is that his guaranteed salary of $300,000 does not translate to the sort of dominance that that number demands in MLS relative to what other players make. Odds are not good that Jamison will return next season, but who knows? Here's hoping that if he does return he will make more prudent decisions on the field at critical moments.