MLS Season Preview: Real Salt Lake

With the MLS season set to begin on Friday, theScore runs down everything you need to know about each team heading into the league's 20th campaign. Here, we take a look at Real Salt Lake.

Life without Garth Lagerwey begins for Real Salt Lake.

Even he is still struggling to come to terms with it.

"I’ve used the word heartbreaking before, and it was," Lagerwey said last month. "It was really hard to leave; it would always be hard to leave. I’ve been welcomed by the Seattle fans, which has been really cool, but you’ve got to go out and start over and win their trust. It’s starting the whole process over again, and it’s a lot of work.

"It’s weird. It’s all a little weird."

While the superstar sporting executive was the biggest name to leave Utah in the offseason, he was far from the only one. The likes of Robbie Findley, Ned Grabavoy, Nat Borchers and Chris Wingert all jettisoned as well, leaving head coach Jeff Cassar with some questions to be answered if his team is going to replicate the strong showing of last season.

2014 season: 3rd in Western Conference

Playoffs: Lost in Western Conference semifinal (LA Galaxy)

Head coach: Jeff Cassar

Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium

Season Opener: Saturday, March 7: Portland Timbers vs. Real Salt Lake (Providence Park) - 10:30 PM EST

Key Arrivals

Jamison Olave (New York Red Bulls), Demar Phillips (free transfer), Wellington "Pecka" Paeckart (free transfer)

Key Departures

Carlos Salcedo (Guadalajara), Ned Grabavoy (New York City FC), Chris Wingert (New York City FC), Nat Borchers (Portland), Robbie Findley (Toronto FC), Sebastian Velasquez ((New York City FC)

Player to Watch: Alvaro Saborio

The Costa Rican has been able to consistently put the ball in the net when healthy, but his inability to stay off the treatment table has to be a concern for Cassar. 

After a wonderful 2012 campaign in which he scored 17 goals in 33 games, Saborio has played only 37 combined in the last two seasons (scoring 21 times). Production is not the question mark here.

With the 32-year-old already set to miss time by virtue of his involvement in the Gold Cup, any added period of absence due to injury could leave Real Salt Lake in serious trouble up front - especially because of the absence of Joao Plata, who would have been relied upon heavily to create openings in the attacking third.

The diminutive Ecuadorian broke a bone in his foot in late January, and was given a timetable of 3-4 months for a potential return.

Keep an eye on: Joao Plata (when he comes back from injury)

Projected Starting XI

(4-3-3) Nick Rimando; Demar Phillips, Chris Schuler, Jamison Olave, Tony Beltran; Kyle Beckerman, Luis Gil, Javier Morales; Sebastian Jaime, Olmes Garcia, Alvaro Saborio

Note: Joao Plata expected to be inserted into starting lineup upon his return.

Season in a Sentence

The squad, though markedly different from the one that pushed for the Supporters' Shield last season, is still sprinkled with talented veterans that should have enough in the tank for another playoff berth - assuming they stay healthy, of course.