Nashville SC are back at home on Saturday, playing a cross-conference match agaisnt Real Salt Lake at Geodis Park. To get the latest on RSL, we spoke with Matt Montgomery, the Managing Editor of Wasatch Soccer Sentinel.
Ben Wright (SixOneFive Soccer): It seems like it's been a fairly up-and-down season so far for RSL. Is that fair? What's been the story of their season to date?
Matt Montgomery (Wasatch Soccer Sentinel): It's absolutely fair to say that it's been and up-and-down season — you need only look at the team's results to see that. Dropping out of continental competition against purportedly weaker competition, losing consecutive games at home, and sitting on a 3-0-4 record certainly point to that. Add in a squad that notably lacks an experienced center forward, having signed three strikers in the offseason with a combined 23 top-division matches collectively, and the reasons become pretty clear. The roster just isn't complete. Diego Luna can't save us every match, and increasingly we have to grapple with that fact.
Of course, the biggest news is that the team is likely to be sold, adding in a new layer of chaos after only recently having been bought by a group led by unfathomably rich people. The new ownership group would be local should that go through, so at least there's a small win there.
BW: Diego Luna is probably the most recognizable name for RSL, and it feels like he's taken a huge step forward this year. What's his role, and what do you think the ceiling of this team is with him?
