Basics

Soccer is indeed the beautiful game, but this was not a beautiful game on either side. Toronto created most the chances in the first half, but DeRosario was caught offside repeatedly and the timing on their attack was off. Though the Rapids created a couple chances early including a nice shot from Ballouchy, passing was chopping and the Rapids rarely seemed to have the fluidity in the final third that has characterized games like the 4-0 win versus Chivas USA 8/9/09. The only golden chance was the PK Casey hit off the crossbar in the 25′.

The Rapids found a way to get the ball in the net in the 52′ from a Peterson cross via Casey’s shiny forehead. The Rapids held off the ensuing push from Toronto over the next 10 minutes, and Omar should’ve made it 2-nil in the 79′ one on one with the goalie.

Referee Terry Vaughn wasn’t afraid to go to his pocket, sending off two Toronto players: Sanyang for two yellows and Serioux with a straight red. Sanyang’s were understandable, but the Serioux straight red was bizarre. To be fair, Omar was getting bumped all night by Serioux, but the majority of the challeges were good physical play. Vaughn had enough in the 84′ and sent him off with a red card. Yellow? Absolutely. He had been toeing the line all night. But a red for Serioux? Harsh.

[9/7/09 4pm UPDATE] Just saw a replay of the event. Ok maybe it was a red. That was fairly blatant and he was the last defender.

Bonus

Casey now has a two goal lead in the Budweiser Golden Boot competition, with 12 goals to Freddy Montero’s 10. You can vote for Casey’s goal as goal of the week here.

Bummer

Casey has performed brilliantly on PK’s, including the MLS All Star game vs (my favorite player) Tim Howard. I have to take the blame for his miss, as I leaned over to my wife and said “He’s good at these,” clearly jinxing him. Either my jinx or novacaine caused him to bang it off the crossbar.

Backtalk

This puts the Rapids just two points behind the Galaxy with one less game played. It also puts us in fifth place in all the MLS, which is key for those 4 wildcard places. However, the bad news is that there is a four-way tie for 7th in the MLS, with Fake Salt Lake, Chivas USA, New England, and DC United all at 33 points. We could easily find ourselves out of the top 8 in MLS in one weekend.

Being in the top two in the west is obviously the best way to guarantee a spot in the playoffs, do you think we can catch the Galaxy?

Basics

It took just 26 seconds for an unlikely goal off the foot of Pablo Mastroeni. In a setup that would repeat itself throughout the night, Omar Cummings drew the defense down the field. He then passed the ball back to Mastroeni, the typically defense minded captain, who looked around then realized he had an open shot on goal. Mastroeni has a good foot, and should look for these opportunities more often. Accuracy at times is the issue, but if he can get them on target he has plenty of steam.

The crowd gathered at DSGP was treated to a spectacular finish minutes later when Conor Casey took a Cummings pass and chipped it over Chivas goalie Lance Parker. Then in the 23′ the omnipresent Cummings sent a gorgeous pass across the six yard box which Casey touched in for goal number two. He could’ve taken a shot, but made the unselfish and much more effective play. If there was any wind in the sails of the injury-riddled Goats, it was gone at that point.

Omar Cummings was brought down in extra time in the first, resulting in a red card. Casey put home the PK with another cheeky chip shot, wrapping up a 4-0 first half and completing the scoring for the first half.

The second half was a bit of a formality, though we had a couple other good chances. Matt Pickens pretty much had the night off, but made several excellent saves in the 62′ and 63′ to preserve the shutout.

Bonus

Conor Casey is again the leader in the Golden Boot competition with 11 goals. It was good to see the big man get the ball in the back of the net again.

Bummer

This was tough to come up with, but I’d have to say Omar Cummings not getting one of his own. He had three good chances in the game, including a breakaway early in the second that he sent off the top of the crossbar. He was absolutely spectacular in the game, igniting our attack.

Backtalk

The Rapids are in good position for the playoffs right now. Consistency has been a major issue, do you think the Rapids will be able to maintain momentum and finish in the top 8?

One of the first areas this shows up is the lack of a default starting 11. If you look at the Rapids losses on 3/21 to Chivas USA, 4/19 to Houston, 6/28 to Seattle, 7/4 to Chicago, and 7/18 to DC United, these are the players who started.

1. Matt Pickens
2. Preston Burpo
3. Jordan Harvey
4. Ugo Ihemelu
5. Scott Palguta
6. Cory Gibbs
7. Julien Baudet
8. Kosuke Kimura
9. Nick LaBrocca
10. Mehdi Ballouchy
11. Jacob Peterson
12. Pablo Mastroeni
13. Greg Dalby
14. Colin Clark
15. Conor Casey
16. Pan Noonan
17. Omar Cummings

For the 6/24 and 7/4 losses there was some turnover due to international duties (Casey, Cummings, Clark), however if you look at this list I can’t say who El Capitan is going to pick for our upcoming match against New York. Not only that, but how players are used is also in question. Is Kimura effective enough as an attacking defender to make up for deficiencies in shutting down attackers? How does Noonan fit into our attack, can he mesh soon enough to make an impact this season? Is Baudet a helpful addition to the squad, or are we disrupting our defense by inserting him mid season?

And what is our style? Are we hard nosed and aggressive like Mastroeni? Are we quick on the counter like Clark and Cummings? Are we fluid like Ballouchy? I realize all of these can coexist at some level, but it seems like individual players have their own style, but the Rapids have not developed a style all their own.

If we can identify the starting 11 that perform well together and have the best chance of creating a cohesive style, we might achieve some consistency and get back into the playoff picture.

What are your thoughts?

Chivas’ Paulo Nagamura came into the game with only 4 career goals, but upped that by 50% by the end of the night. His pair of goals exposed weaknesses in the Rapids’ defense. In the 54th minute, he was given far too much space and hit a beautiful ball to the bottom corner that gave Pickens no chance. In the 59th minute, Kimura attempted to head the ball clear, but it turned into a perfect setup for Nagamura that even Kljestan couldn’t have bettered.

In the category of encouraging signs: Conor Casey was lively and active, and with a bit more luck might’ve netted a pair himself. Pickens made a brilliant stop on Kljestan right before the break, and can’t be faulted for either of the goals.

It’s only one game, but it isn’t going to get any easier for the traditionally slow starting Rapids, as the Denver Post pointed out

…Colorado suffered its 10th loss in 14 Major League Soccer openers and faces a difficult start to the season, with three of the next four games — all but Saturday’s home opener against Kansas City — on the road.

Between now and the Wizards this Saturday at DSG Park in their home opener, I’m sure Gary Smith will be working on the Rapid’s defensive clearances. Goal production was an achilles heel last year, I would also like to see Casey and Cummings find a way to turn chances into goal scoring (yesterday’s goal was a gift).

View video highlights of the match

Chivas USA comes off a season-ending semifinal loss to Real Salt Lake on aggregate goals, and should be a good first test for this new Rapids team. This year certainly feels like a fresh start, with a new Captain at the helm, fresh talent in Guerrero, and our young stars coming into their own.

See you at Sobo 151!

View the full match details at the Rapids site.

Colorado Begin Preparation for 14th Season

COMMERCE CITY, COLO. (Monday, January 26, 2009) – The Colorado Rapids kickoff their preseason training sessions in advance of the 2009 MLS season this week with Wednesday, Jan. 28 marking the first day on the pitch.

The Rapids will train at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park over the next two weeks before traveling to Ft. Lauderdale for a seven-day camp environment in Florida.

Colorado’s opening game will be on March 21 against Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center at 8:30 pm MT. The following weekend, on March 28, the Rapids host the Kansas City Wizards at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park at 7:30 pm MT in the club’s 2009 home opener.

PRACTICE & PLAYER MEDIA AVAILABILITY:

All training sessions during the 2009 preseason and regular season are closed to media. Media will be granted a fifteen (15) minute access period at the end of training.

Rapids’ players and coaches will be made available following each practice and can be made available prior to practices if arranged through the Rapids Media Relations Department. Interviews will be done on the practice field as scheduled.

Colorado Rapids Training Schedule for the Week of January 26, 2009:

Monday, January 26
Team meetings

Tuesday, January 27
Player Physicals

Wednesday, January 28
Rapids Training 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
Field #8

Thursday, January 29
Rapids Training 10 am – 11:30 am
Field #8
Rapids Training 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
Field #8

Friday, January 30
Rapids Training 10 am – 11:30 am
Field #8
Rapids Training 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
Field #8

Saturday, January 31
Rapids Training 10 am – 11:30 am
Field #8

Sunday, March 1 (sic: should be February 1)
Players’ Day Off

Next year is now upon us, with the season kicking off March 21st at Chivas USA. So what are there essential questions we face? I have felt we lack a quality finisher, who turns chances and half-chances into goals. In a MLSnet.com article “Five big questions about Colorado,” Owen Perkins writes

The Rapids’ need to quickly become more efficient in turning their prolific opportunities into goals scored. They outshot their opponents 397-278 over the course of the season, second only to RSL in shots taken, but they were outscored 45-44, ultimately coming up one goal short of the playoffs.

Read the full article and the 5 questions here.

What are your big questions for the Rapids heading into 2009?