Wasatch Soccer Sentinel

Real Salt Lake has had two preseason games streamed — a minor miracle, and one for which I’m grateful — giving us a look at the team’s shape and roster structure that we’ve not been afforded in recent years. While not against MLS opposition, matches against Danish side Randers FC (of Yura Movsisyan fame, I guess?) and Brøndby IF (of Gavin Beaver fame) peeled back the curtain just a bit.

How will Real Salt Lake’s new formation work?

Early evidence has RSL playing (roughly hewn) a 3-4-1-2 (or a 3-2-3-2, if you’d rather describe it that way), with two deep midfielders, two wing backs, two forwards, and one Diego Luna in a largely free role. What I’m left wondering is how the ball will progress from the two deep midfielders (in the most recent game, that role was played by Pablo Ruiz and Noel Caliskan) to the likes of Luna.

If Luna is required to come deep frequently to retrieve the ball, the problem repeats itself, and Luna then has to figure out how to progress it to a forward. There are large gaps left in the middle of the park, and I don’t see a solution forthcoming, given that’s largely the same thing we saw from RSL last year, too. Against Brondby, Ruiz and Caliskan were particularly close together and largely side-by-side throughout; there was a certain depth that would have changed the dynamic.

Pablo Ruiz proceeded to play his usual game, which consists of huge passes up or across the pitch. He’s good at those, but it can feel rather like any build-up is ignored. Maybe that’s fine, but it feels like RSL is in a bit of a split-brain situation. On one hand, Luna is trying to build play through the middle and from the left channel through crafty dribbling, but on the other, Ruiz is swinging big lobs and crosses over him to other players. I don’t know quite what to make of it, but the two ideas seem largely incompatible.

The large gap between the midfield and the forwards (again, with Luna sort of splayed out to the left channel much of the time) becomes particularly relevant when the team is defending, as it leaves the opposition plenty of room to operate in the middle — the knock-on being that a high press becomes fairly routine to play through. Smart teams, if the team continues to structure themselves this way, will just need to operate in that space to find some early build-up joy.

What is Alex Katranis’s role with this team in 2026?

The question I’m left with after the two preseason matches we saw is around Alexandros Katranis, who went from a guaranteed starter to a rotational player through the 2025 season, then back again. I don’t know if that’s down to injury concerns or what have you, but seeing Katranis come on in the second half for both of these matches leaves a fairly large question mark: What’s his future look like with Real Salt Lake?

I’d be happy if he stayed around, as I think he’s a good option in the left wing back role. However, with the presumptive starters (and there’s not really a question — the substitute group deployed in both preseason matches is overwhelmingly young) not including Katranis, and that group instead including Ruben Mesalles, a 2025 draft pick who played last season at Real Monarchs, does that spell the end of Katranis’s time at RSL?

I don’t think we have any direct evidence of an impending departure, but there were rumblings earlier in the season, and I’m left a bit curious.

News and other rumblings

• Emeka Eneli sustained a knee injury in training, Pablo Mastroeni told reporters, and is day-to-day. Given the arrival of Stijn Spierings, one wonders what Eneli’s role will be in 2026 regardless of any injuries. The pecking order there is probably very much up to grabs.
• RSL finally announced the loan termination of Rwan Cruz, who the club accidentally announced the departure of in a fan survey recently.
• RSL has been linked with Atletico Nacional’s 22-year-old Juan José Arias, who plays center back. I don’t know the veracity, but it’s from @CLMerlo on the former Twitter, who has been reliable in the past. A move in the defense would be wise.
• RSL has also been linked with 27-year-old RC Lens attacker Morgan Guilavogui, per The Athletic reporter Tom Bogert. It’s a big deal for RSL — a $5m purchase. Southampton were reportedly interested in the player five months ago but didn’t meet Lens’s valuation. I watched his highlights, and I don’t know that it’s the sort of signing that’ll move the needle a ton, but certainly the club needs forwards. As a DP? I’ll just say he has a ton to prove.
• In that same article, he drops that RSL is looking to offload Diogo Goncalves, who hasn’t been seen in preseason matches.
• Bogert also reported that a couple Spanish sides are targeting Luna — Espanyol and Celta Vigo — but that a move wouldn’t be expected until after the World Cup for the player. Smart from the club and the player — if he was going to move before the World Cup, I’d have thought last summer would be the best option, but the World Cup will be his top priority.