As the British announcers on ESPN might say if this was a World Cup game, “this game is waiting for someone who will grab it by the scruff of the neck.” Toronto got a scrappy but effective goal in the 61′ and the Rapids could not equalize. Tepid. Lukewarm. The Rapids simply looked…uninspired.
These are the sorts of games that compel me to predict another season where we fall just out of playoff contention. We came off six games unbeaten, but the final three of those were ties. We are dropping points when we could be nipping at Fake Salt Lake’s heels.
Dare I say we were punchless without Ballouchy? The game was screaming for someone to take charge of our attack in the midfield. Smith looked adequate in the midfield, took a couple good set pieces, but lacked the creative touch. Thompson was pacey but never really troubled the defense. On a bright note, Casey and Cummings teamed up well on a few chances and put our only shots on goal. However in the end we fell short.
Smith appears to be throwing darts again with the lineup. To be fair, I’m not sure either what the combination is. Some fans want Lopez in there, a man who has shown to be quite dangerous throughout his career. Can he last 90 minutes however? Clark seems tentative, little of the slashing winger of 2009. What we need is a leader, someone who will grab our attack by the scruff of the neck and will his way into making us dangerous in games like this where a point was ours for the taking.