RSL injury update: Kreilach out with calf concern, while Ochoa, Rubin remain unlikely for Saturday

For those of you following along at home, Real Salt Lake has been struck by a bit of an injury crisis early on in 2022, and that looks like it’s not going to get a quick resolution.

Pablo Mastroeni told Bill Riley today in an interview on ESPN 700 that “it’s not likely” that those who sat out on Saturday will be available against New England Revolution.

That includes Damir Kreilach, Rubio Rubin, David Ochoa and Nick Besler, leaving RSL with a bit of a selection crisis.

Mastroeni also elaborated on Kreilach’s absence, which is easily the one we’re holding our collective breath about the most. It’s a calf injury — the same one that kept him limited in preseason. A recurring injury is never a good thing, and I suspect it’ll be a while before we see Kreilach suit up. A month? Maybe more? I don’t know. I’m not a doctor. (I’m not a bachelor, either, but that is what it says on my diploma. I dunno.)

The best news was easily around Rubio Rubin. He’s now fully involved in training, and that’s entirely a good thing.

Here’s a partial transcript of Mastroeni’s comments, if you’d like full context

We found out probably Tuesday or Wednesday of last week — I think it was Tuesday — we were doing some sprints with the guys, and he pulled up and said that he felt a tug in his calf. This is a situation that’s been going on for about four-and-a-half weeks now, going into preseason. Damir had trained only twice prior to the Houston game, so now this happens, and we’re thinking, OK, well — we always talk about the mindset and mentality of the guys that aren’t playing, because when your name is called, are you prepared for the opportunity? Chang stepped in there and did a fantastic job on both sides of the ball.

It’s not easy, not having players, especially in Dami’s case, the captain of the team. I think what we showed last year in a similar situation without Albert is we’ve gotta be greater than the sum of our parts, and I think on the weekend, we were.

I would say not likely, unless there was a real surprise. I’d like to tell you that we’re optimistic that one or two of the guys could come in, but the truth is, it’s not likely the guys that we didn’t have available for the last game will be available for this game. But we are making progress, and we’re starting to see them in more training. Not full training, but more training.

Rubio (Rubin) is in a good way.Rubio’s now training fully with the team; now, it’s just a matter of getting fitness. He missed all of preseason, and obviously, he didn’t have any games under his belt. I think it’ll take him some time, but he’s training fully with the team, and that’s great to see.