Ahead of their Saturday matchup at Rio Tinto Stadium in MLS Week 9, (3:30 pm ET | Univision, TUDN, Twitter), both the LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake are looking to solidify their current spots above the Western Conference playoff line.
LA are currently third in the West on 16 points through eight matches (5W-2L-1D), having experienced a positive start to the season in their second year under head coach Greg Vanney. While there have been some more learning moments along the way, Vanney said he feels good about the place his team finds themselves in, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
"I said at the beginning of the year: If we defend well, we're going to have a good season," Vanney said, "I think we've defended well, that's been a good part. I think we've been solid in our ability to control games, to possess the ball. I think we've had some solid-to-good chance creation. There needs to be a higher percentage in the chance finishing category, but I think those things will continue to grow and to come and I think for our group in particular, our ability to defend well and to again control games is an important part of it."
Real Salt Lake, meanwhile, find themselves in the No. 6 spot on the West table (3W-2L-4D), despite taking a tough pair of results over the past two weeks: A 6-0 road defeat at NYCFC that preceded a 1-0 loss to USL League One side Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC in US Open Cup play.
RSL rebounded by taking a well-earned scoreless draw against the Portland Timbers at Providence Park in Week 8, with head coach Pablo Mastreoni saying that result in one of the league's most difficult environments for visitors was important in righting the ship.
"I think last week was definitely an emotional roller coaster for everyone," Mastroeni said. "I think even today the guys are still feeling a little bit leggy. I think that's what makes this league unique to most other leagues in the world. You have a five-hour plane flight, you have a game two days later, then you travel again to Portland in a game where you've got to get a result to get things going in the right direction again. So I think we're still kind of feeling the effects of that.
"But again, there's no rest for the weary in this gig. You've got to come in and do the work, get in early, stay in after, look at the film. There's no time to rest."
A return home to Rio Tinto could also provide RSL a boost for the matchup. Either way, Vanney said it will be a good test for his side at a venue that is considered one of the league's more formidable home fields in its own right.
"They have players who can make plays and they're going to always have a strong mentality to compete. That's Pablo's MO – he gets the guys ready to work, ready to compete, difficult to play against," Vanney said. "If some of the things happen or don't happen on the attacking side, they'll still be difficult to play against, so we've got to take the game as it comes to us and try to put it in our vision. But we've got to also be able to protect ourselves and manage the game appropriately in Salt Lake, which is always a challenge.
"I think they're a dangerous team. I mean, they came off a really difficult two results last week, and then they went on the road and were a little more conservative, a little more compact, they allowed Portland more of the ball, which is a strategy teams use against Portland at times," he continued. "They used it, they had a great chance at the end to come away 1-0, they didn't, but I felt like when they saw them at the end of the game, their reaction, they got what they wanted, which was they didn't give up anything and they felt like they protected themselves pretty well coming off a stretch in which they hadn't done so well at doing that."
