Real Salt Lake's youth movement takes flight in 2026 | OneFootball

By J. Sam Jones

Four players have scored more than one goal for Real Salt Lake this season:

They are, in order, a SuperDraft pick, a USL Championship transfer and two academy kids.

And they’re out here doing things like this:

Laying the groundwork

Coming into the year with multiple injuries and absences in key spots, there were questions about how RSL would fare. They’ve responded by leaning on young players who have helped guide the team to one of the best starts in club history (16 points; 5W-3L-1D).

There were signs in preseason camp. RSL traveled to Lagos, Portugal, to take on Danish sides Randers FC and Bröndby, as well as FC Dallas. They won two out of three despite a few missing pieces. The kids stepped up and earned trust from the coaches, teammates and themselves. And if there were any lingering doubts after that trip, they’ve been quieted by now.

Of course, this didn’t suddenly start in preseason. Those performances were a confidence-boosting proof-of-concept moment for the club’s approach to talent development and the first team’s approach to integrating inexperienced players. 

That approach has changed over time. In part because the coaching staff needed to rethink their approach to instructing the team as a whole. 

“I think we got into the weeds, and there was a lot of coaching parlance in our video sessions,” head coach Pablo Mastroeni told MLSsoccer.com earlier this month, ahead of their Matchday 11 home showdown with the Portland Timbers (4:45 pm ET | Apple TV, FOX). 

“And I think the most important thing is to understand your audience. Knowing that we're going to have another young group, how do we take sophisticated, complicated tactics and make them as simple for a six-year-old to understand? And I think that's our challenge, and that's what we spent a lot of time on in the offseason, really honing as a staff.”

Clarity & consistency

The staff honed in on a map. 

Think of a diagram of a pitch. Imagine each section of the pitch has instructions for what to do on and off the ball. 

Now pause for a second here. You’re probably imagining something aesthetically impressive. A carefully crafted diagram generated through the resources of a first-tier professional soccer team. Do not do that. There are literally emojis on this thing. With different colored text bubbles and the variety of fonts scattered across the pitch, it’s closer in design traits to a ransom note made out of magazine clippings. 

But it has played a key role in providing a clear process in each phase of the game. RSL’s coaching staff already simplified the team’s tactics over the offseason. They just needed a way to communicate those ideas.

Now, instead of heading into a training session focused on buildout by going over intricate details in a slideshow, Mastroeni & Co. could show the map. What could be hyper-specific “If X, then Y unless Z” formulas as they play from the back are instead an eyes emoji reminding players to get their eyes up and the words “Find The Free Man” in a yellow box reminding players to… well, you know. 

“I think the clarity in not having so many changes in that setup allowed for the younger players to adapt to our system much quicker as well,” Mastroeni said. “And so the understanding of what I'm asked to be doing, offensively and defensively, I think, was a little clearer. Which enabled them to play from a place of flow, versus having to overthink too much.”

Honing a philosophy

Obviously, there’s more to it than just one training tool. RSL’s success doesn’t come down to one diagram. But the map represents the RSL staff’s commitment to clarity. And that clarity has helped the team as a whole, not just its young players.

Still, it’s the young players garnering most of the attention. Solans, a striker with five goals on the season, is a reminder that there’s still plenty of value in the SuperDraft. Luna is battling his way back into contention for a spot on the USMNT’s 2026 FIFA World Cup roster. And Gozo is turning into a bona fide star who RSL fans may not be able to watch in person for long. 

The wingback is an academy product turned starter, gaining legitimate interest from European teams. He's one of a handful of examples proving RSL’s Academy is among the best in MLS.

Part of that success stems from alignment on a club ethos from top to bottom.

Mastroeni credits RSL’s president of soccer operations, Jason Kreis, with improving the connection between the academy and the first team. He also credits academy coaches like Jordan Allen, a former U-16 coach now with MLS NEXT Pro’s Real Monarchs, with instilling a mentality that leads to both development in the youth system and a more immediate impact once players have reached the MLS level. 

“A big part of development from my perspective, especially if you want these guys to be pros, is to compete the right way, to win games,” Mastroeni said. “It's not enough to develop your techniques. But do you have a winning edge to you? Do you have that competitive spirit?

“I think oftentimes that's what takes the younger players so long to adapt, because they're trying to figure out the tactics, and they're sometimes complicated. They’re trying to figure out how to act in the locker room. They're trying to figure out all these things. But because I think our club is so aligned and integrated from top to bottom, it makes the transition a bit more seamless, because they all come with this competitive bit of grit to their game.”

Human element

They also come with plenty of mentors. At least now. Mastroeni believes RSL lacked veteran guidance for their younger players. So the club intentionally went out and grabbed experienced guys like Morgan Guilavogui, Juan Manuel Sanabria and Lukas Engel, who could be “big brothers.” 

Mastroeni and his staff have also been more intentional about showing young players the way. Sometimes that just means checking in to see how his youngest guys are feeling as they experience life as a professional soccer player. 

That wasn’t always the case. And it didn’t really click for Mastroeni how valuable that approach could be until a young player named Andrés Gómez arrived in 2023 and struggled. After a tough first year in MLS, Mastroeni and the RSL coaches did their best to put an arm around the now-Colombian international. He responded in his second year by scoring 13 goals and delivering nine assists in just 22 games, earning a reported $11 million transfer to French Ligue 1 side Stade Rennais. 

Now, going the extra mile to connect with young players is just a standard, and critical, part of the job.

“At times in the past, I probably didn't give them enough of a runway. And when I say enough of a runway, I'm talking about not just the minutes on the field, but the care off the field. The conversations off the field. Being really deliberate in helping these guys move forward,” Mastroeni said.

“I know we're in a high-performing environment, but at the end of the day, we're all human beings, and especially these younger players that are moving away from home, they need more care and more love than anyone else. More than our pets do at home. They really need somebody that they can lean on.”

It’s a mutually beneficial practice. RSL are playing the kids and taking care of the kids, and the kids are winning. They’re also generating some of the most exciting soccer in the league this season.

A simple process on and off the pitch has led to a group of young players playing with the confidence to be themselves.

“I think that's the other thing,” Mastroeni said. “How do we take the pressure off them to let them play with the youthfulness that they do with the Under-18s, with the Under-16s, when soccer was fun and there's not so much pressure on them?

"And I think that's what we've done. A really good job here.”