4 big questions Real Salt Lake must answer in the coming days

For a while last year, Real Salt Lake looked like the real deal.

The club had the Golden Boot leader and two feet firmly in the Supporters’ Shield race at the All-Star break. Then things started to come undone.

Striker Chicho Arango was suspended and never looked like himself afterward. The team sold star winger Andres Gomez for a record fee but couldn’t replace his talents on the field. And despite setting a club record for points in a season, RSL’s year ended early with a first-round playoff exit.

Rather than simply regroup, it appears RSL is ready to rebuild on the fly.

The team has traded away its star man Arango and forward Anderson Julio. It has sold midfielder Matt Crooks and goalie Gavin Beavers.

The club is expected to bring in reinforcements with the acquisitions of a new striker, winger, center back and goalkeeper all imminent, according to a team source.

Until then, these are the biggest questions facing the team at the start of 2025.

What does life after Chicho look like?

RSL is saying goodbye to its star striker.

The team traded Arango to the San Jose Earthquakes on Friday. So the biggest question facing the team right now is how it will replace Arango’s scoring.

The striker tied Salt Lake’s single-season goal record on July 6. At the time, those 17 goals led Major League Soccer.

“Chicho was that guy for us for the first seven months of the season,” RSL coach Pablo Mastroeni said last month.

Then came the striker’s four-game suspension for violating the league’s anti-harassment policy. When he returned, the forward went scoreless in his final eight games of the year.

The problem appeared to be both mental and tactical.

“When you are going through a really hard time in life, you essentially go into self-preservation mode. And when you’re in that mode, you cannot give. You’re taking, right?” Mastroeni said at the end of last season. “We had conversations ad nauseam — ad nauseam — and I left every conversation thinking to myself, ‘I don’t know if I reached him.’ And if I did, I don’t know the depth of what he’s going through.”

The loss of Gomez, whose speed on the wing created numerous scoring opportunities for Arango, also hurt.

“I think the effect that it had on Chicho was big,” Mastroeni said. “Losing one of those guys I think is fine. But now there’s a big load on Chicho to really make up those numbers. ... Down the stretch we just weren’t making enough plays. A lot of that pressure falls with a guy like Chicho. He’s got to carry that burden and it just wasn’t clicking for him.”

Even so, replacing Arango will be a huge task.

RSL will reportedly get $1.5 million in General Allocation Money and an open international roster spot. With preseason about to begin, the team will have to move quickly on its replacement plan.

Will RSL keep its best young players?

Speaking of Gomez … few could fault RSL for selling the Colombian to Rennes in France last August. The $11 million fee (which could be worth up to $13 million because of a sell-on clause) blew away the club’s previous record sale ($4 million).

The sale was also a proof of concept for Kurt Schmid, the club’s sporting director.

“Being able to show that we can bring the player in, the coaching staff can develop them and we can turn them into an asset and execute that transaction is valuable,” Schmid said as he considered the impact of the midseason sale after the team’s playoff exit. “It obviously adds revenue for us to hopefully continue to do that again and again.”

It also works as a sales pitch to other talented, young players. Schmid pointed to Polish winger Dominik Marczuk, whom RSL signed after Gomez’s departure.

“I think a factor in his decision and other young players' decisions in the future will be, ‘Oh, these guys have shown that they can be a pathway for us,” Schmid said. “And so I think it’s going to help pave the way for us to continue to bring in those young, talented players that can contribute.”

Still, there’s no question that the midseason transfer disrupted RSL on the field. And there are players on the roster now, including MLS Young Player of the Year winner Diego Luna, who might attract deep-pocketed suitors this summer.

Who do you put in goal?

Zac MacMath had enough head-scratching mistakes last season that Mastroeni had to bench the veteran keeper for a time.

But, despite a few flashes, backup Gavin Beavers didn’t do enough to win the job permanently — and now the youngster is reportedly being sold to the Danish side Brøndby.

MacMath, meanwhile, returned to the starting lineup and looked excellent in RSL’s playoff series against Minnesota. It certainly wasn’t the goalie’s fault that Salt Lake lost after back-to-back shootout defeats.

Can the 33-year-old veteran maintain that form this season? Or will RSL’s new goalkeeper target take over the No. 1 job?

Is there enough depth for the journey ahead?

Aside from Arango, Midfielder Matt Crooks is the other big name leaving Salt Lake. The Englishman was just sold to Hull City.

The team knows it needs to bolster its depth if it’s going to compete for the MLS Cup and the Concacaf Champions Cup. RSL is back in the Concacaf tournament after an eight-year absence and will begin with a Feb. 19 match against CS Herediano in Costa Rica.

“We’re always looking to improve the team,” Schmid said. “I think [we want to] improve the balance of the team, add a little more help defensively so that we have more solutions when there’s an injury or suspension.”

To that end, Salt Lake traded forward Anderson Julio to Dallas for defender Sam Junqua last month. RSL is also hopeful that veteran midfielder Pablo Ruiz can return to form after missing most of last season with a knee injury.

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