They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but what if the old dog isn’t so old and the new tricks aren’t really tricks at all?
Coming off his best season at the ripe old age of 25, a campaign in which he set a career high for goals, Real Salt Lake veteran Justen Glad is just coming into his own, even as he is poised to begin his ninth season with the squad.
The former Catalina Foothills defender — who returns to his hometown along with RSL and several other top MLS and USL teams for the FC Tucson Desert Showcase the next two Saturdays at the Kino Sports Complex — is getting better with age and wisdom, putting himself on the verge of a spot on the United States men’s national team, his head coach, former USMNT member Pablo Mastroeni, said.
“Theoretically, I am kind of going into my best years — 25, 26, 27 — where you have the physicality and the experience to pair with it,” Glad said. “But you also have to keep the long term in perspective. I want my next three years to be the best three years, but it’s a progression every year. I don’t look only at a three-year block. I look at the day-to-day and the month-to-month. Once three years pass by, I hope to look back and say it was my peak.”
This was all part of the plan when Glad decided to make soccer his career as a teenager in Tucson.
After a terrific start to his Catalina Foothills career and an impressive club soccer showing in the summer following his freshman year, Glad was invited to join the Real Salt Lake Arizona Academy in 2012 at the age of 15. He scored the winning goal in RSL Academy’s first national championship game appearance and was named an NSCAA High School All-American. Two years later, the club made him just its seventh homegrown signing in team history. At 18, Glad made his Major League Soccer debut and within a year became a fixture on the defense.
He can barely believe that was seven years ago.
“Growing up, I loved sports — basketball, soccer, football, all of them — but when I went to the academy, the goal was to get a college scholarship and to get college paid for,” Glad said. “And then at some point I kind of realized it didn’t have to be just college; I was good enough to go pro.
“They invited me to a preseason match, I started playing with the first team, and I realized I could make a living out of this. I was 16.”
Now he’s 25; not quite ancient in soccer, but no spring chicken.
‘All the little things’
Glad has had to learn how to preserve his body as he’s grown older and wiser. He’s no longer the hard-charging kid who makes up with tenacity what he lacked in savvy. He’s even cut out late-night cereal.
“You realize your body is your job,” Glad said. “I’ve seen a lot of people’s whose careers have changed with a snap of a finger. My hammy went last year, so eight games I sat out. Now if I need to take a Tuesday off, that’s acceptable. As opposed to being that 17-, 18-year-old kid, balls to the wall every training session.”
Now Glad looks at training with detail and precision. His goal is not major gains, just forward progress.
“To even get to the MLS, you have to be good across the board: decent at passing, at defending, at heading, even reading the game,” Glad said. “So every offseason, I’ve focused on one or two little areas. (Mastroeni) harps on that a lot. Getting 1% better. You do that, and you can look back and you’re not the same player as you were at the beginning of the season.”
Real Salt Lake's Justen Glad, left, celebrates with teammates Aaron Herrera, center, and Andrew Brody after their team's victory over Sporting Kansas City in an MLS match on Nov. 7, 2021.
All those small improvements are starting to add up to one big future. In 2022, Glad set a career high with three goals, and he jokingly said his goal for 2023 is five. But that versatility is raising eyebrows.
“He’s been doing all the little things that will put him in contention for the next World Cup run,” said Mastroeni, who played for Team USA from 2001-09, including the squad’s appearance at the 2006 World Cup. “I think it is granular, it is about the day-to-day.”
That is already in line with Mastroeni’s principal coaching principle, which implores his players to improve in small steps, not in leaps. The Real Salt Lake coaching staff has specifically set aside time toward the end of training sessions for players to focus on particular skills.
In Glad’s case, he’s been devoting extra time to hitting long diagonals, and Mastroeni said he’s made noticeable improvement.
“Those incremental gains for Justen adjust the gains for our entire group,” Mastroeni said. “If everyone can make a 2% gain, as a group, we’re making a 15% gain. And that breeds confidence, breeds belief.
“How do you automate processes? The only way I know how to do it is to work deliberately on those places you want.”
Becoming a leader
All that work is adding up to something.
“He’s 1-5% away from being a starter on the USMNT,” Mastroeni said. “But that’s a huge number to make up. He can do anything Aaron Long does, but now it’s the repeatability of it. Is it consistent? At that level, you can’t be a seven one game and be a two the next. It is the small gains, and with Justen’s mindset and his desire to want to improve, it’s just a matter of time.”
Where Glad has made perhaps his greatest gains as a player, Mastroeni said, is in leadership, and vocal leadership in particular. He’s one of five players on the RSL leadership committee, and he’s the youngest.
“A lot of it comes down to me maturing as a teammate, being more of a leader,” Glad said. “It’s different trying to take advice from a 19-year-old and a 25-year-old with some years under his belt.
“Being in the league for a while, seeing how things are run, you get to know people around the organization, you build a personal self-confidence. And once you have that experience in the league, it’s much easier to listen to it and to be that voice.”
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