Training notes: Positive injury outlook, midfield future, and more

After taking in an hour or so of training this morning, I'm feeling quietly confident about our chances tomorrow. Injuries might have taken their toll in some respects, but there are some encouraging signs out of the Real Salt Lake camp.

Let's go through this piece by piece, shall we? Let's take on the players who have been reported to have injuries first.

It seems likely that Terukazu Tanaka is fit to start. Chris Wingert, it would seem, is still not at a level at which our fitness folks feel comfortable unleashing him upon Dallas, so I'm pegging the Japanese full back to get a good test against a speedy side.

Alvaro Saborio seemed to train fully and didn't look off his touch, so as long as his knee reacts as we'd hope it would, he should be ready. Saborio is an essential cog in our system at this point. On the topic of strikers who hold up the ball, Cody Arnoux looked quality during training, too. If he can remain free of injury for an extended period, we'll be in a good situation. We shall, as they as say, see.

Paulo Junior trained, too, after having a bit of trouble with infection following a dental procedure. He's not slated to start — especially with Fabian and Alvaro raring to go — but perhaps he will be in a good spot for the Open Cup.

Javier Morales and Leone Cruz both spent some time jogging around the pitch, but neither got involved with any play — muscular strains have taken their toll, but with a longish layoff coming up, they'll have a nice opportunity to get the rest they need. Chris Schuler, too, was active in a sense — though not on his feet — as he rode the Javier Morales Stationary Bicycle™ on the sidelines.

* * *

Right, so now that we've discussed how the injured (or less injured, or perhaps not at all injured) players looked, let's take a hop on over to those, shall we?

It was a nice opportunity to take a look at youngsters today: Enzo Martinez, Nico Muñiz, and Sebastian Velasquez — the bulk of our midfield in three or four years, if I'm to be a bit hopeful right now — all looked involved and creative during the small-sided and full-sized games exercises. While obviously at different places in their development, the three skillful, technical midfielders all looked bright and creative in their passing.

Sebastian, for some of the time, played in the attacking spot in the diamond — as he's not likely to start, he was with the side facing off against the more "established" players — and seemed comfortable in the position, which isn't much surprise, really. The more he learns about those outside midfield spots, the better off he'll be when he's given a chance to shine — for that, we can be quite pleased.

Lalo Fernandez was a bit funny — at times, the ball would come unexpectedly at him (usually from someone on the sidelines just knocking it into the net without much thought) and he'd look a bit startled. Don't get me wrong, though: He was confident in his shot-stopping and didn't shy away from the ball when he was actually, you know, being a goalkeeper. It was just a bit funny, is all. Please don't take that as me saying he didn't look confident as a goalkeeper, will you? (For what it's worth, I'd be a miserable goalkeeper. Every time the ball would come at me, I'd cower in fear. Curl into a ball and all.)

Oh, and that Tanaka fellow? He's fast.

Right, 'til tomorrow, when I'll write up a bit of a match preview and we can all gaze into the crystal ball of results.

Oh, and if you've got any questions about training today, do shoot them over, and I'll answer as best I can.