What If... is a series taking a look at ways Real Salt Lake could have changed — think of it as a look at an alternate reality, a look to the other side of the mirror. Over the coming weeks, we’ll explore some of the questions that we’ve been asking ourselves this offseason.
The year is 2014, and Real Salt Lake is coming off an underwhelming first year with Jeff Cassar as coach in which they lost particularly poorly in their first playoff. The bright spot was squad put together by then general manager Garth Lagerwey, who had, in seven years, steered the team toward an MLS Cup victory in 2009, and nearly toward another in 2013.