Xavi (pre-cloning)

In the 90′s human cloning was extremely controversial. I think fans of the Colorado Rapids and/or the US Men’s National Team could agree an exception should be made.

Watching Xavi play this weekend versus Real Madrid, he was the spoke around which the Catalan wheel rotated. Even when they went a man down he directed the flow of play.

The Rapids have a powerful striking duo up top with Casey and Cummings. We have a less potent but still fairly dependable back line with the likes of Moor and Baudet.

What Colorado really lacks is a a creative presence like Xavi, a turret in the middle of the field firing balls forward.

With the US Men’s National Team the need for a Xavi-clone is one of possession. We lack a strong presence in the middle of the field that can absorb passes from the back, choose passes without cheaply giving up possession, do it repeatedly throughout all 90 minutes. Instead, at times, we sprint around like a track team defenders like Gooch fire optimistic balls downfield and hope one of our front men can get onto it.

These are not newly diagnosed issues. Surely the only option is to clone Xavi and get him ready for 2010.

On a chilly (and under-attended night) at DSGP, it was a tale of two halves. In the first, the Rapids looked solid on defense, but were unable to muster  a single shot until minutes before half when Nick LaBrocca made a run from the back and hit a long, hard ball on goal. There was a glaring lack of quality balls from the midfielders to the forwards. However, the Rapids’ rusty attack began to roll in the last moments of the first half and kept that steam throughout the rest of the game.

The defense in the second half was not quite so stellar on the defensive side. Gibbs apparently lost the ball in the lights, turning a simple chip pass into a Michael Kraus’ goal over a helpless Pickens. Ihemelu also made a couple questionable choices, and to my eye Kimura continues to be the weak link at the back. Nonetheless, Pickens made some excellent first half saves to keep the game even, and I think the Gibbs/Ihemelu combination has great potential.

Gary Smith was typically blunt Englishman in evaluating his team’s performance. From the Denver Post

Smith minced few words when describing his team — a squad he said is not stout in defense, not flashy and not clinical up front. For the time being, at least, is the hope.

“I’m just disappointed,” said Smith, who earned his first victory as interim coach last season against the Wizards. “Even though we won the game, there were too many times we looked like we could give the game away. We have to be better than that.”

Moving into next weekend’s game vs the Galaxy, a couple thoughts:

• If Cooke is unable to play the full 90, I would rather see him play the first 60 rather than the last 30. Jacob Peterson made some excellent attacking moves, but the Cooke’s outlet passes are the best on the team
• I wasn’t a big Kimura fan going into the season, and through two games my opinion is unchanged. He has pace, but is good for a couple dangerously poor clearances a game. I wonder if Smith will consider a change.
• The thunder and lighting combination of Casey and Cummings up front is a delight to watch, and will hopefully produce a harvest of goals this year. Cummings ice-cold finish was delightful

What are your thoughts on the Rapids performance? Leave a comment below on what did and didn’t like about our performance on the pitch Saturday.

Gomez was one of my favorite players in 2007, with his quick feet and ability to see the field. However he never seemed to be able to secure a starting role, and it seems to be a trade that is in both parties’ best interests.

Gary Smith’s take:

“I believe Christian will be delighted to return to D.C. United, where he is comfortable and had some success in the past, and both I and our entire staff wish him all the best. In return, we get some much-needed support and strength in a left-sided player like Ivan Guerrero, whose international and MLS experience is tremendous.”

Read the full article at the Rapids Website.

As the owner of a Colorado web design company, I thing WordPress is a far superior blogging tool. You can install it on your own server, so they could have used something like undercurrent.coloradorapids.com. However, they are on Windows servers (WordPress requires Linux) and perhaps there are technological limitations due to their alliance with MLS. I just always advise clients against sending traffic to a third party website (like Blogger).

Nonetheless, a blog is a great idea and will hopefully be a place to uncover current insight into the Rapids organization. And the name is catchy!

Gibbs will be the only Rapids player in the training camp, and we wish him well!