Cassar confident in Glad, Maund pairing ahead of SKC matchup

Real Salt Lake will be without a host of players on Saturday against Sporting Kansas City, and coach Jeff Cassar took to the airwaves to talk about the issues facing the team.

In an interview on ESPN 700, Cassar said the tactical focus of the team won't change because of the injuries and absences.

I think you can see some different players in some different positions, which, at times, can be really beneficial. It might look different with different names on the back of the jerseys, but we're still going to try to do the things we want to — with little different twists from our players' strengths. What I like, is we can change during the game tactically if we want to, and we can also make some substitutions that will give us different looks.

Olmes Garcia slated for return

Olmes (Garcia) was back in training today, looked really good, so I'm really excited about the group that we're going to be putting out back there.

This is a boost for RSL, who will need players on the bench, especially as options to change the tone and tenor of the match. Garcia is one player that can do exactly that — whether that's by his speed and his movement, or because it could mean substituting a defensive player for an attacking one.

Cassar confident in Maund, Glad pairing

Obviously, Aaron (Maund) has been fantastic for us this year, and Justen Glad has stepped into some really difficult situations whether it was during preseason and/or games this year. I'm very confident in both of them. Obviously, we have Chris Wingert, who could step in there, and also we might be calling a Monarchs player to give us depth who's an experienced player as well.

There are a couple things here to note — first, this sets rather in stone that Glad's going to play, which is meaningful (and should end of the snark coming from certain corners of the internet), and second, it confirms suspicions that the club could end up using an extreme hardship call-up. While we don't know who exactly that would be, we do have some ideas.