What we’re watching in RSL vs. LA Galaxy

A busy week of Soccer in the league, and RSL squares off against the LA Galaxy at home Wednesday July 20th in their 13th match of the season. Let’s hope that the original meaning of the number 13 holds out and RSL has some luck. Here are three things we will be watching in the match:

Defense

I hate to sound like a broken record...but...OK, I will sound like a broken record. Where was the defense against LAFC? Well...it left 9 shots on goal and as good as David Ochoa is and was, well, 2 made it through. The defense looked lost. So...is it time for Toni Datković to take a turn in the middle? And that brings us to number 2...

Midfield

So, where was Albert Rusnak in the last match? A fair question might be, where has he been in many matches this season? Is he really just no comfortable playing on the wing? He certainly has national team experience there, so not sure what the problem is. Meanwhile, Freddy Juarez seems to defend him a lot, but at what cost? Would a different lineup in the middle help?

Last match Pablo Ruiz was not a great. Will he step up in this match? Will he start? Where was Everton Luiz when it came to stopping 29 shots? The midfield and the back line did not work at all last match, and there really is no easy explanation. So, could it be more a matter of coaching? It would be too easy to focus on that for number 3, so I won’t.

X-Factor

So, Damir Kreilach has been great this season and is probably top 5 best international signing ever for RSL. However, who else is going to step up? Will we see Jonathan Menéndez get his first minutes? Will Albert Rusnak step up and show some brilliance that we have seen in the past? Will Bobby Wood find his form? What about Rubin Rubio? Will he get back to early season magic? What about Anderson Julio? There are a number of players that could step up for RSL, the question is who will be the x-factor? Who wants it? Who is hungry? Or will we see the return of ‘The Team is the Star’?

Match details

• Match: 2021 Regular Season Match #13
• Opponent: LA Galaxy
• Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah
• Time: 8 p.m. MDT
• Weather: 85 degrees & clear skies
• TV: KMYU
• Live Stream: KSLSports.com
• Radio: ESPN 700 (English) or La Gran D (Spanish)
• Stadium Food: Salt City Wings, Totally Nuts, Chili Verde
• Ref: Kevin Stott
• Kits: The Claret & Cobalt