As Sporting KC faces Western Conference rivals Real Salt Lake on Sunday evening, I caught up with Fox Sports and RSL broadcaster Brian Dunseth to preview the match. The match will kick off at 9:00 p.m. CT with live coverage available on Fox Spors 1, Fox Deportes, and La Grande 1340 AM.
Jonathon Feyeherm: With Benny Feilhaber's recent comments about Real Salt Lake and the history between these two sides, what are you expecting from this match?
Brian Dunseth: Yeah listen Benny is always an honest interview and that’s what I love about him. This year he’s been fantastic on the field and I have no problem with what he said. I thought it was refreshing to be honest with you. We don’t have enough “villains”. I think for Real Salt Lake, these fans know exactly what the target is this week, and it’s going to be Benny Feilhaber. Beyond that, these are two teams that have a history from a few years ago. They just don’t like each other, and that’s okay. With Benny’s comments, and the history between Roger Espinoza and Kyle Beckerman, it has all the ingredients for a molotov cocktail in the midfield. Which is exactly what we need for a national television game. In particular, here in Salt Lake, it’s another motivator for a team that isn’t anywhere close in the standings from where they want to be.
JF: What's been the reason for Real Salt Lake's offensive struggles this season?
BD: It’s really simple to be honest with you. It’s the loss of Joao Plata up until about three weeks ago. Sebastian Jaime has been in and out of the lineup because of injury. Javier Morales has missed significant minutes with injuries and a concussion as well. Statistically he’s leading every category for Real Salt Lake. Saborio hasn’t had as many services as he’s used to. There was kind of a switch to the paradigm this year in terms of the Starting XI. At times it has looked like 4-3-3. At times Jeff Cassar bounced back to a 4-4-2 with a diamond. More recently he’s played a 4-2-3-1 and that’s because he’s dealt with international duty, injuries, and suspensions. His team has never really been full strength. Now with the work visa issue that is going on with virtually every foreign player that went away for international duty, it’s gonna be even more difficult. No Elias Vasquez as of right now. Chris Schuler is still injured, Jamison Olave is still injured so it’s gonna be a depleted back four heading into the weekend.
JF: How will injuries to several defenders impact Real Salt Lake's backline for Sunday?
BD: I expect Tony Beltran to be a starter. I expect Abdoulie Mensally to hold down his place even though he was on international duty with Gambia. He was one of the few foreigners allowed to come back to the states because of the United States’ relationship with The Gambia. In terms of who steps in right now, Justin Glad, it looked like he got a concussion Tuesday night against Sounders 2, so he’s up in the air. I think it’s Aaron Maund and Phanuel Kavita, who has the most likely chance to be in the Starting XI because Schuler is still injured from a meniscus surgery, Olave is hurt again, and Carlos Salcedo joined Chivas de Guadalajara in the offseason. He’s now playing for Mexico in Copa America. They don’t have the same depth that they’ve had. Sporting Kansas City knows as well, once you lose one, two, or three centerbacks things get pretty difficult in terms of decision making.
JF: What are your thoughts on the play of Sporting KC's Krisztian Nemeth this season?
BD: I like him a lot. He’s not the biggest, the fastest, or the strongest, but he’s witty on the ball. I like the fact that he’s got some bite to him. He’s actually got a lot of bite to him. I like the fact that he’s not afraid to mix it up and be a little confrontational. Honestly, it’s like he and Dom Dwyer are spirit animals in terms of their work rate, their honesty, their commitment in the final third, and then also on the defensive side of the ball. Both of those players have something that you can’t teach, it really has to be instinctual. I think after he settled down and understood exactly what Peter expected of him in that role. Sometimes he looks like a true number 9, and other times he looks like a guy that is very capable of playing in a wide position, and inverting and, getting underneath. I like him. I think the most important thing I heard about him is he’s an honest trainer everyday. He shows up to work, and I heard he’s great in the locker room. Those are all of the boxes that you want checked for an international caliber striker that you bring in, in terms of trying to compete for spots, sliding inside of an already established locker room, and raising the bar consistently.
JF: What are some things you're looking for from Sunday's match?
BD: I’m looking at the two center backs for Real Salt Lake. Whoever it is, I think they are going to have a huge job on their hands dealing with Nemeth and Dom, as well as dealing with the secondary runs from guys like Zusi and Benny. Game management for both teams. For Sporting Kansas City how do they start? For Real Salt Lake can they dominate early and force Sporting Kansas City to chase a little bit? Then when I look at this team right now for Sporting KC, I think Peter has done a masterful job in terms of balancing this game this team, these players. Especially considering the amount of injuries that they’ve had, and still getting results in games where they haven’t necessarily played well, and winning games where they’ve played really well against opponents that maybe they shouldn’t be beating based on the roster availability at the time.
JF: What is Real Salt Lake's form heading into this match?
BD: For Real Salt LAke it’s been up and down. Jeff Cassar hasn’t been able to get his strongest group on the field. I think when you look back at last game against Colorado it was the first time they got Joao Plata, Sebastian Jaime, Alvaro Saborio, and Javier Morales on the field at the same time. That was one of the reasons they kind of went for this front three look. The chances were there, they created 16 shots. The unfortunate part was the only had one shot on goal, and they didn’t walk away with a full three points. The positive was Tuesday night in Open Cup action they were able to come back from down a goal, winning, pushing through, and now they face Portland at home. I think psychologically that is a big barrier for them, being able to score goals even though it was a lesser opponent. Hopefully, from their perspective, putting together a full 90 minutes because it’s been a long time since we’ve seen the best from Real Salt Lake.
JF: How important is this match for both sides?
BD: It’s huge on every level to be honest with you. For Real Salt Lake, you cannot afford to drop more points at home. That has been the main struggle this year. They’ve played well enough to take the full three points and they haven’t. If you look at their home record, it’s just not good enough for the bar that they have historically set in that building. For Sporting KC, they way they’re playing, it’s no surprise. The surprise is in the way they’re playing with the players that are available and not available. Mustivar has been fantastic since coming in, they’re undefeated with him. Espinoza is starting to round back into form that we expected him to be in as an impact player. Matt Besler has very quietly, in my opinion, put together the best season that we’ve seen so far from him. I know that says a lot, but I think because he’s off the national team radar, in terms of press, mainstream media has not picked up on how well he’s playing right now. This is Sporting KC. This is what everyone recognizes. They’re usually gonna dominate at home and pick up the full three points, and then they’re gonna fight you tooth and nail until that final whistle to take as many points as they can over us.
