Interesting move IMO, since goalkeeper was once a very stacked position in the Academy but seems to have really thinned out recently - which seemed to open the path for Mackay. But maybe we decided after the Beavers experiment that we prefer a senior player at that spot. EDIT: Or maybe Kerkleveit is the guy.
Leagues cup (which may need to just be its own running thread again) opponents announced: https://www.rsl.com/news/real-salt-lake-to-host-liga-mx-trio-in-2026-leagues-cup Tigres on Aug 4 Mazatlan on Aug 8 Juarez on Aug 11 the club referencing petkes last game against Tigres is a choice.
GAM numbers were released: Real Salt Lake: $4,435,148 4th most in the league For comparison, Last year: $3,303,600
So they are accumulating more than they're using? Edit: can anyone find the number from the beginning of the off-season? Wasn't RSL 3rd in GAM total?
Here was the Jan. 21st 2026 number: Real Salt Lake $6,947,461 https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/mls-publishes-2026-general-allocation-money
The Soccerwise guys are saying RSL might be competing for a home playoff spot! IDK man. We do have 2 data points with which to draw a line, but a lot could still go wrong this year.
Hey I’ll take it! But that is a really a tough one haha So if we take last season’s Home Playoff threshold of 58 points, RSL would need 1.72 Points Per Game for the remaining games to get there. In RSL history, we have only seen 2010 (1.87 PPG) and 2024 (1.75 PPG) surpass that number. I am so down for a top 3 season ever though! I like the way they think
I was going to say, wouldn’t that mean they expect RSL to finish just one spot higher? Especially if we’re conceding that the play in is part of the playoffs
The same guys that had RSL under 39.5 points for the season? Make up your mind. I predicted 10th and I'm not coming off that prediction for at least 2 more weeks.
I’d be curious to see how they assessed Vancouver and San Diego before the 2025 season started. I am not at all suggesting RSL 2026 will be as good as either of those teams in 2025, but one of my absolute favorite things about this league is that you can change positions like that so quickly
This is a much better early season than I dreamed of. The 2nd half showed that we need some players to continue to build up endurance and for some others to get healthy.
Do we have some people who are going to need to eat some crow? Pablo has been pulling the strings pretty well so far this year. I am cheering for him!
I will if he does a full season. Hes shown he can manage stretches, especially if there are limitations on the team or a sense of “disrespect” from media or league reps. It’s managing during success that he’s shown to be the weakest
Absolutely. I picked RSL to finish 10th. Like 15 it's how this team finishes the season that have been the damning part of Pablo's tenure at RSL. I hope Pablo has it figured out but I still think that the odds are high that RSL will finish closer to 10th than first. I really, really, realy, hope Pablo proves me wrong but I tends to wear his teams out. Getting pumped to get a win against an Atlanta team that hasn't won a game is great but he tends to treat every win like it's his first. Expect your team to win, shake hands and walk off like you do it every week. Passion is great but it's a 34 game season. blah, blah, blah, I hope he proves me wrong
The West is going to be really tight like the East was last year. I imagine the difference from 5th to 10th/11th is not going to be very large.
Ideally that's what having the injured people back will bring. Whether they start, or the kids, we should have a better bench if we can get, and mostly stay healthy