I wanted Jony Menendez to be a great Real Salt Lake player. I don’t think I’m alone in that. But success is a fickle thing, and the exciting, attacking winger we signed appears to have been a fever dream, a myth, or a victim of a coaching change — or maybe all three simultaneously.
It’s hard to separate the ideas in regard to Menendez, and it’s only grown harder through the year. He played just 142 minutes for RSL’s first team, starting just once. After starting in the playoffs against both Seattle Sounders and Sporting Kansas City, Menendez was relegated to a depth role at best in 2022.