RSL hopes full week of training can spark turnaround against LAFC

HERRIMAN — Real Salt Lake finally had time to stop.

Now they have to figure out how to start again.

After a stretch of six matches in 18 days across MLS and Leagues Cup, RSL entered its first full training week in nearly a month riding a four-match losing streak across all competitions and an eight-match winless run in league play.

Head coach Pablo Mastroeni gave his players two days off before turning his attention toward Saturday’s visit from LAFC, hoping a rare uninterrupted week on the training field can help RSL rediscover some of what has gone missing.

“I think the biggest thing was having two days off, to be honest with you,” Mastroeni said. “Because again, I look back at some of those performances and we were a moment away, a play away, and I’m thinking, man, was it fatigue? Was it the string of games? Was it not being able to separate one game from the next?”

RSL enters Saturday 10th in the Western Conference with 28 points, one point below Minnesota for the final playoff position. LAFC sits third with 36 points.

The match begins a home-heavy September for RSL, with four consecutive Saturday matches at America First Field interrupted only by midweek road trips to Houston and Seattle.

For Mastroeni, the extra training time has been about more than recovery.

RSL has incorporated several new players into the group during the past few weeks while injuries have forced others into unfamiliar combinations. Mastroeni said the condensed schedule left much of that teaching to film sessions and walkthroughs rather than repetitions on the field.

“This week it’s really about those relationships,” Mastroeni said. “And the last game, we weren’t good with the ball. So how do we, again, give them confidence having reps in the different phases that we need to?

“And again, for me, the most important phase is build phase. That phase will set the other phases in motion.”

La La Land visits the Rocky Mountains#RSLvLAFC | @EnglandLogistic pic.twitter.com/S767EcoB2y

— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) September 4, 2026

Finding the ball again

RSL’s 1-0 loss at Colorado last weekend extended its MLS winless streak to eight matches, but Mastroeni saw progress in one area.

Colorado did not score from open play. The Rapids’ winner instead came from a corner, continuing RSL’s season-long struggles defending set pieces.

“We didn’t get beat in the run of play,” Mastroeni said. “And so that was a big step forward. And so now really the onus is on us this week to really prepare to control the game with the ball as well.”

That control will be tested against an LAFC team that has conceded less than a goal per match this season while collecting 12 clean sheets. RSL has two.

LAFC also arrives with one of the league’s most dangerous attacking combinations in Denis Bouanga and Son Heung-min. Bouanga leads LAFC with 11 goals, while Son has a team-high nine assists.

RSL saw that danger firsthand in July.

LAFC beat RSL 3-1 at BMO Stadium, with Son and Bouanga both scoring on first-half counterattacks despite RSL controlling large stretches of the match. The loss continued a lopsided series in which RSL has gone 4-16-1 against LAFC since the club entered MLS in 2018.

Mastroeni believes RSL’s problems in Colorado were less about a lack of opportunities to play through pressure than failing to recognize and execute them.

“We just didn’t execute technically enough to ask a question of their pressing,” Mastroeni said. “There’s ample opportunity to make plays. We just didn’t on the day.”

Juan Manuel Sanabria and Diego Luna helped RSL gain greater control after entering the match, something Mastroeni could lean on again Saturday.

“When JuanMa and Diego came into the game, it obviously took the air out of the press and we were able to control it more,” Mastroeni said.

Replacing Guilavogui

RSL will have to find that control without either of its designated players. Justen Glad remains sidelined with injury, while Morgan Guilavogui will miss Saturday’s match due to yellow-card accumulation.

Guilavogui entered last weekend’s match at Colorado one caution-free appearance away from having a yellow card removed under MLS’s good-behavior incentive. Instead, he was whistled for four fouls, with the fourth earning a yellow for persistent infringement in the 61st minute and triggering a one-match suspension.

That leaves RSL without one of its most productive attacking players just as Mastroeni is emphasizing the need to control games with the ball.

Guilavogui leads RSL with seven assists, two more than Noel Caliskan and Juan Manuel Sanabria, and Mastroeni pointed specifically to his ability to combine with Diego Luna and relieve pressure in possession.

“I think we need all of Morgan,” Mastroeni said.

“When Diego’s out there with him, the two of them can really take control of the game with the ball,” he added. “So I think we’re gonna need a little bit of that, but we’re also gonna need that final pass that he’s able to find. So we’ll figure out how we’re gonna go about it this weekend.”

RSL does at least have more options than it did a week ago.

Forward Jason Shokalook joined the club from Chicago this week, while midfielder Taylor Booth trained Thursday after arriving from Dutch side FC Twente. Midfielder Colin Guske made his RSL debut against Colorado after arriving on loan from Orlando City.

Mastroeni praised Guske’s composure and awareness in his first appearance, including a tactical foul that earned the 19-year-old a yellow card but stopped a dangerous Colorado transition.

Guske said the group is trying to stick together through the difficult stretch.

“Obviously right now it’s a tough time, but every club goes through that,” Guske said. “So it’s all about sticking together. And I know the staff and players, we’re all gonna stick together because we’re like a family and do what’s best.”

For RSL, the hope is that a week spent recovering, building cohesion and finally putting concepts into practice on the training field will begin to show Saturday.

“I think those relationships and getting the guys to get back on the grass and have a good run-up to the game at the weekend will be really important,” Mastroeni said.

How to watch

Who: Real Salt Lake vs. LAFC
When: Saturday, Sept. 5, 7:30 p.m. MT
Where: America First Field, Sandy, Utah
TV/Streaming: Apple TV
Radio: KSL Sports Zone 97.5 FM/1280 AM (English); Latino 106.3 FM (Spanish)