RSL GM Waibel: Players that won’t give full effort “need to be moved”

Real Salt Lake’s general manager threw down the gauntlet today, doubling down on his “shape up or ship out” message he delivered after the club’s 5-1 loss to Houston Dynamo and before the 6-2 loss to FC Dallas.

In Waibel’s regular interview with Bill Riley on club-owned ESPN 700 today, the GM said players who he sees as not caring about the game, they’d be moved on.

“When I watched the games in Houston and Dallas, I had the unfortunate feeling that I possibly — possibly — I cared a little more about it than some of the guys on the field,” Waibel said. “That hurt, and that stings. Those feelings can’t be taken back. I can’t give those back, and I can’t ignore them. Those have to be addressed, and I know Mike (Petke) felt the same way.”

Waibel was crystal-clear in what he’s planning for those players, saying they would be moved.

“I simply echo Mike’s post-game interview, in the sense that we need to correctly identify those emotions and make sure the guys are not falling into that category, and those that are need to be moved. It’s as simple as that,” he said. “The organization and the fans deserve more than those two appearances. It’s one thing to lose and fight while you’re losing, it’s another thing to lay down.”

In a June 2 interview on ESPN 700 — which came before the 6-2 loss against Dallas — Waibel said he can’t always take a long-term view with the roster.

You can’t change everything overnight, and I talk a lot about having a long-term view. But every once in a while, like Wednesday night, you can’t always pretend it’s a long-term view. It’s not always existential like that. There’s going to be some really black-and-white conversations that happen in the next week-and-a-half about where we’re going to be, and what we’re going to do in the July window.