Ahead of Saturday's home match vs Real Salt Lake, SportingKC.com caught up with The Salt Lake Tribune's Chris Kamrani to preview #SKCvRSL. Live coverage starts at 7:00 p.m. CT (kickoff at 7:30) on FOX Sports KC+, FOX Sports GO, 99.3 FM, and La Grande 1340 AM. For complete online coverage, visit MatchDay Central.
What’s been the changes to Real Salt Lake’s style of play since Mike Petke took over?
Petke has made it clear he wants RSL higher up the field at all times. That could mean a high press from the front three, or new playmaker Albert Rusnák getting on the ball higher up the field, Petke's tried to establish a more up-tempo look from RSL since taking over last month. It worked in wins against Vancouver and Colorado, but against Atlanta, RSL fell victim to a team that pressed better and more often.
What’s the team’s form heading into Saturday’s match?
Hard to gauge. The back-to-back wins worked wonders for the confidence of the group, but life in MLS is all momentary. The home loss to Atlanta brought the team back down to earth, so to say, and showed that there is clearly more work to be done with Petke at the helm. He warned fans and media covering the team that the results early on — wins or losses — meant nothing in relation to where he wants the team to get to in the next few months, and beyond. So let's see how they respond to their first loss under the new boss.
Real Salt Lake is unbeaten in seven regular season matches against Sporting KC. What do you attribute to their recent success against Sporting KC?
It's a fascinating statistic, to say the least. If I'm not mistaken, the only loss to Sporting KC since MLS Cup 2013 was the U.S. Open Cup semifinal loss in 2015. Other than that, RSL's had Sporting KC's number in the regular season in recent years. One could argue that the stakes of the rivalry between these two clubs have fueled RSL the last few seasons. The two teams matched up incredibly evenly, when they were at full strength before the changes at RSL last offseason. It will be interesting to see how the two sides tangle with new faces in RSL's rotation.
What are the injury concerns ahead of Saturday’s match? How could that affect how Real Salt Lake approaches the match?
RSL's been slammed with injuries in 2017. The latest to join the list is goalkeeper Nick Rimando, who suffered a hamstring injury in the 3-1 loss to Atlanta. RSL's already had 12 players miss a game this season due to injury, for one reason or another. That's about 45 percent of the roster. Joao Plata hasn't found a rhythm yet this year due to injury, while Jordan Allen and Sunday Stephen are working their way back. The back line is where RSL's been hit hardest. The only defender not to suffer an injury this year is rookie Justin Schmidt. Keep in mind, the breakout player of 2016, Justen Glad, still hasn't started a match yet for RSL.
New Designated Player Albert Rusnak has three assists and two goals this season for RSL. What’s been his impact this season?
For a newbie playmaker to MLS, Rusnák has been efficient in his first two months in the league. He's learning where to find the ball in each half of the field and has shown to be impressively strong on the ball going forward. He rarely gets knocked off the ball during challenges, which is a solid trait to have as a 5-foot-9 attacker, and is similar to Benny Feilhaber in that regard. Rusnák will be measured on his assists as the No. 10 in this look, but should chip in more goals as RSL awaits its full attacking arsenal to reach a full bill of health.
What will be the key to match?
It's always Dom Dwyer. It always will be for whoever Sporting KC faces, too. Mike Petke said this week that Dwyer is the kind of forward he used to hate marking as a center back because his effort doesn't subside if he can't find the ball or if the game isn't finding him, the drive only grows and grows. RSL's done a decent job against point strikers in 2017, but Dwyer's constant movement will make him a difficult track for the center backs — especially at Children's Mercy Park.
