As I watched the Rapids struggle in the first half against the winless Galaxy, it was deja vu all over again. In the home opener I attended versus the Wizards, the Rapids looked similarly lethargic in the first half. The Rapids were able to sting the Galaxy in the second half of last weekend’s game, but a lack of a second home goal allowed the Galaxy a late equalizer.

There are several issues the Rapids must address to get out of “middle-of-the-pack” mode and into a conference title challenger

• Goal production: the Rapids were unable to secure an away goal against the winless Dynamo two weekends ago which would’ve earned them a valuable point on the road. At home, a second goal should be an expectation. In this case it would’ve rendered the Galaxy’s late goal meaningless. These past two games should’ve produced at least 4 points instead of 1.
• Midfield creativity: it was difficult to watch the Rapids ping-pong the ball back and forth between the back four for most of the first half and too much of the second. There would be 5, 6, 7 passes back and forth and then a long ball sent to a streaking Clark or Cummings. Now, that is a valuable strategy to have in the arsenal, especially with the speed of the aforementioned players. However, it is a low percentage ball and for long stretches of time it was our only attack. The Galaxy sat back on it and weren’t overly bothered. We need to the midfielders making runs back to meet passes, some quick one-touch passing, and some runs by left and right backs to stretch out the opponents defense.
• First half production: the Rapids are looking like a calm stream in the first half at home. Gary Smith might want to start swapping Red Bull for Gatorade. Perhaps we are a second half team, but the lack of goal production in the first half is coming back to haunt us.

Am I being too harsh? Perhaps. But if the Rapids can make these changes we will find ourselves leaving behind the middle of the pack one point at a time.

Major League Soccer (MLS), Rapids News and Analysis Colin Clark, Gary Smith, Kansas City Wizards, L.A. Galaxy, Omar Cummings