These strange lulls in the middle of the week have got to stop before I go mad. The season’s in its run-up period and we’re inching closer and closer toward an automatic playoff berth, but as we do, everything seems farther away and greater in scope. It’s a potential four weeks before we get Javi back — which I’ll touch on — and perhaps now is a good time to evaluate how various members of the squad have been stepping up in his absence.
Throughout the heartbreak that has been the 2011 season, we’ve seen some real glimmers of light. When Javi sustained a near-season-ending injury, you knew it was going to be an uphill battle for the rest of the season. His play was as essential to our side as anyone else’s, defining with Kyle Beckerman the shape of our midfield.
Rather than dump the shape — it would have been a direction many managers would have taken — when one of the two lynchpins was removed quite forcefully from the equation, Jason Kreis opted for an approach more nuanced. He knew we had squad depth, and we weren’t packed with midfielders for no reason. Faith was rightly shown, but how it turned out was predictable: stumbling blocks. Lots of stumbling blocks, too; they were frequent and sometimes quite large, and sometimes they were hidden in the pitch like a landmine. It’s made the season quite difficult.
How did we fare? I’ll go through the midfield and briefly discuss how they’ve done, but do keep in mind, the job’s not over yet.
Kyle Beckerman has come on leaps and bounds since that dark day. His vision, passing and creativity have been unleashed; no longer should we think of him as a hard-tackling dreadlocked dynamo, but as a dynamic, multifaceted midfielder who leads from deep — and he’s veritably one of the best in the nation in his position. It’s no wonder he’s racked up the assists and scored the odd goal: He’s stepped up in the best of ways.
Ned Grabavoy has made an impact on the squad by helping in the adjustment process and serving ably in perhaps the least glamorous role on the pitch. When pressed to think about key players in the squad, few think about the safe passing and efficient play that is absolutely essential to our system. Ned Grabavoy came into the season not a sure-start — and it looks as if he’ll exit it as one if he can maintain his fitness. He’s already started as many as he did last season, and were it not injury, he’d have started several more already. With nine games remaining in the season, he’ll be essential as we push on.
Will Johnson also plays in that relatively unglamorous role, but he does possess a killer long-range shot that’s proved vital at times. His play has been effective if not stellar, and that’s often been what’s needed, but he’s a player that holds in him a great deal more ability, and I’d like to see him use that. That said, his season has been disrupted by international play, and as a result, his club play hasn’t been as shining as it may have been last season. It is also well worth considering that Will is often dropped back into the defense when we’ve gone down a man or had to replace a injury-hampered defender (far too often, I think.) It’s not been an ideal season for him, but all told, it’s not been bad, and he’s been a very useful player when we’ve needed. Still, he will be absolutely vital in the run-up.
Collen Warner has cut an odd figure at Real Salt Lake during this, his second season with the club. He’s well on track to double the number of games he played last season, and he’s already doubled the number of minutes he’s played — but at times, he’s gone absolutely missing in the midfield, and he’s lacked some of that vital defensive awareness. Still, he’s only 23, and he’ll improve from here, but I get the feeling he’ll want to play in wider positions than he’s being afforded the opportunities for right now, and that may well define his Real Salt Lake career. These few remaining games will be vital: If he can step up his game and offer something defensively, he can fit into our system. If he can’t, well, it’s as Jason Kreis said: Some hard decisions will have to be made during the off-season.
Arturo Alvarez, much like Will Johnson, has been hampered by time with his national team, and that Gold Cup stretch, when we thought he was the solution we just couldn’t have at the time, certainly hurt his chances with the club. If we’re to be honest, he has disappointed in some big ways this season. He seems to prefer an attacking role out wide, which we can’t afford, and he, like Collen Warner, lacks defensive awareness at the back. But with Collen Warner, we can take some time. With Arturo, the money we spend on him might be better spent elsewhere in the squad. He’s been looking better since Kreis’s ominous “hard decisions” comment, but he’s been a luxury player we just haven’t been able to afford. If he were able to play in an attacking role centrally, we may well be talking about him quite differently. Like Will Johnson, international play has hurt his season, but unlike Will Johnson, Arturo hasn’t been able to find his way back into the team. Is he a bad player? I certainly don’t think so. Does he fit with Real Salt Lake? It’s hard to see how he does. I’d like to see him succeed, but we may see him leave in the off-season.
Andy Williams has been effective and produced some great moments for the club this season, but he’s not quite hit the form he did last season. He’s aging and that may well have made a difference, but I wouldn’t write him off completely. He plays quite well coming off the bench and adds a very nice spark, but we been in a situation where he’s a surefire starter. That said, he still takes plenty of shots and will have a good go when it suits him, and he’s showed there’s still plenty left in his engine. Of course, he’s also been played in some different roles than he would have been under normal conditions, and that’s certainly down to injury concerns with other players. Do I fancy Andy to make an impact this season? Certainly. I think he’s building up to it quite well, actually.
Luis Gil has provoked heaps of praise, as he’s a 17-year-old who’s showed that at times, he can perform at a level of play beyond his years. He’s fit right into this side after an initial bedding-in period, and he’s been able to play his preferred position as an central attacking midfielder. But the praise is equally for his time playing up front, when he wasn’t exactly stellar, but he was a nice little stop-gap during a tough run. He’s showed everyone now that he’s not only one for the future: He’s also one for the present, and if he continues to develop at this rate, we’ll have quite a player on our hands. He’ll need to add much to his game to be successful, though, and his success isn’t tacked on — but it’s certainly there for the taking.
I’ve not discussed Jean Alexandre, who hasn’t much played as a midfielder this season, and Nelson Gonzalez, who only played six games thanks to the injury demons that manifested on that dark day in May.
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