Calling in Sick

The good news is that David Beckham is coming to town for the first time in four years. The bad news is that three of the biggest Rapids players are still out with various illnesses and injuries.

While Becks saw it fit to proclaim to the Denver Post this week that he will be here in Colorado for the first time since 2008 – the 4-0 spanking that day must have really scared him (remember Terry Cooke’s goal?) – the Rapids’ own Conor Casey looks unlikely to play any part even as he targeted this game for his first one since last July when he limped off against Seattle with a season-ending injury. Ironically, it is a simple case of a throat infection which seems likely to stop the big striker from even making it to the bench. The Rapids said today he wasn’t able to finish practice because of his lingering illness. Surely, he won’t be risked for this game even if he does perk up after a good night’s sleep.

With Jamie Smith and Pablo Mastroeni still out for what looks at least a few weeks, there seems little chance of any major changes to the line-up for the game against Goldenballs, Landycakes and the rest. That may be a shame because some of the players may need a little more competition to stir them up a bit.

While the Rapids failed to create anything offensively in the second half, the first half forward combination of Omar Cummings, Tony Cascio and Brian Mullan did a great job and managed to carve out some decent chances. For that second half lack of offensive creativity, we might want to blame the fact of Seattle’s soft goal. It was far too easy for the Sounders to score and then they closed the game down, restricting the Rapids’ chances.

And for that goal, and other situations in the game, there must be some serious concerns for Oscar Pareja about the defensive abilities of some of his midfielders. And I’m not talking about Jeff Larentowicz. It’s nice to have Martin Rivero to spray passes around and create as a playmaker but Pablo Mastroeni he ain’t. The bigger concern right now, though, may be Jaime Castrillon as a defensive midfielder. The Colombian was billed as a box to box midfielder but far too often in last weekend’s game, he wasn’t to be seen on the defensive end of things, and I’m not talking just about the goal where Cascio may have done better too in defending the corner. Maybe it’s too early to make any judgement but such weaknesses in such a crucial position may have cost the game last weekend and there were signs of this too against Real Salt Lake. Catsrillon is no doubt gifted offensively but his defensive play is not up to scratch yet in the MLS and we can only hope it improves. Pareja took him off last weekend in the 65th minute. Honestly, Wells Thompson would have been a more reliable bet defensively even if he does not have the talent going forward that Castrillon has.

BAN THE HERBALIFE IMPOSTERS

In the corresponding fixture last year, there was a whole section of apparently paid “fans” who lifted Herbalife (LA sponsors) placards every time the Galaxy did something half decent. It took the home crowd out of the game and can only have boosted LA. Seemed wrong at the time that LA could fiddle things like that to give them an advantage away from home and still seems wrong now. Let’s hope the apparently sell-out crowd drowns those imposters out if they attempt to repeat such nonsense tomorrow.

HENAO STILL ABSENT

New signing Harrison Henao has not yet touched down in Colorado and the Rapids said today they are still not sure of exactly when he will turn up. The 25-year-old midfielder is staying in his home country until his International Transfer Certificate and visa are ready for him to make the trip to Denver.

I guess everyone has to get back on the horse at some point but,  if you were in Brian Mullan’s shoes, would you go to Seattle? I mean, why put yourself through all that? CenturyLink Field with 40,000 baying Sounders fans is not the easiest road venue to play at in the first place and it will be one hell of a hostile reception for the veteran tomorrow if he does make the trip.

I say ‘if’ because it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if he doesn’t go at all. After all, nobody has confirmed he will make the trip. Last year, Mullan was a late scratch from the corresponding game. Maybe he was carrying a slight knock at the time but Mullan isn’t one to back down with a slight knock. Maybe I’m wrong but don’t be surprised if he doesn’t make the field tomorrow. Who would really blame him? Apart from irate Sounders fans of course.

Onto the matter at hand. The Rapids have shown too much vulnerability on the road in the last two games. Maybe it’s the new formation, maybe it’s the absences of key players, but the team has looked a bit like the Rapids of a few years ago when away from home. No real offensive punch and too leaky in defense of the ball. They really need a better performance tomorrow, not least in the first half of the game when they looked especially vulnerable against New York and Salt Lake.

It won’t be easy in Seattleland and they will really need to take it to the hosts to try and take the fans out of the game, especially if Mullan does play. A bit more of that Philadelphia Union game approach rather than the last two games away.

No Pablo again but we are used to saying that by now and the Rapids won’t be using it as an excuse. It seems unlikely Oscar Pareja will use the Drew Moor as midfielder experiment again in a hurry, so expect a fairly predictable line-up with a normal back four, a midfield trio of Rivero, Castrillon and Larentowicz and a front three of Cascio, Cummings and Mullan (?). If Mullan doesn’t play, there may be a chance for Wells Thompson to play and perhaps repeat his first minute goal from last year up there. Ross LaBauex (hernia injury) and Quincy Amarikwa (family commitment) did not make the trip.

Whether Mullan plays or not, the Rapids will need a lot of guts, as Pareja said in Spanish this week. Is that cojones? They’ll need it in spades and in even bigger spades if the veteran starts and gets booed incessantly. It sure won’t be much fun to watch as a Rapids fan.

Tony Cascio is a revelation

Oscar Pareja said the Rapids have had time to put the New York Red Bulls game out of their system. Let’s hope so because that was painful to watch. The coach used the word “distraught” to describe the opening. Seems about right.

The game was over in those first six minutes as the Rapids turned the ball over in crucial areas of the field and were pounced upon by one of the better strike partnerships in the MLS in Thierry Henry and Kenny Cooper. It’s easy to pick on Ross LaBauex for the first goal, as many have predictably done since last Sunday, but it was Jaime Castrillon who turned the ball over for that second goal and it was the Colombian again who inexplicably let Roy Miller coast deeply into the penalty box to gift Cooper for the final goal. That’s not to take away from Castrillon’s performance offensively which was one of the better parts of the game. He stole the ball off Rafa Marquez for Omar Cummings to score a beauty and he also came close with a great header in the first half. While we are at it, we can equally say that midfielder Wells Thompson  was largely ineffective in the game.

The point, surely, is not to apportion blame on individuals. Everyone makes mistakes and has bad games. It was an overall bad performance defensively by the Rapids and they will have to be a lot sharper tomorrow with the likes of Pappa, Pardo and Oduro to deal with.

PABLO OUT AGAIN

Once again, team captain Pablo Mastroeni is unavailable. I feel we will be writing a lot of that this season. The veteran has been reported as saying he is only one bad concussion away from retirement and he clearly is not right just now. This may well be a recurring problem throughout this season and the Rapids will have to get used to it.

The good news is that Jeff Larentowicz is back. He may well be partnered by Martin Rivero in the midfield as the young Argentinian has now received his transfer certificate. But, what message could that send to LaBauex? You made one mistake and that is that? If Pareja wants to instill confidence in his young midfielders, some of whom will no doubt be called upon regularly this season, surely the best option tomorrow would be to plunge LaBauex back into the starting line-up, tell him to forget last week and get him back on that horse. Thompson is much more established in the squad and will be a good option off the bench while Rivero is unlikely to be game ready and would be a better bench option too.

The front three of Cummings, Tony Cascio and Brian Mullan look likely to start their fourth straight game. Cascio has been a revelation. His attacking  threat last week was one of the few bright spots in the Rapids game and he is looking like a great pick. Maybe he will take a plunge later in the season as most first year players seem to do but we should all be enjoying his contributions right now.

Just about to do The Dead Fish (Denver Post)

Last season, this game was one of the best Rapids results of the year. Omar Cummings and the late lamented Sanna Nyassi were really beginning to enjoy their fruitful forward partnership with Nyassi scoring one of the sweetest goals in 2011 after a perfect through ball from Cummings. Pablo Mastroeni also scored one of his regularly spectacular goals with a beautiful left foot curled shot into the corner past Mondragon in the Philly net.

But that was then and this is now. Nyassi has gone in one of the less understandable offseason moves by the Rapids and the veteran Mondragon has moved on to be replaced by a 20-year-old McMath who had a bit of a stinker in Philly’s opening game against Portland. We could go on and on about the need to pressurize the youngster whose confidence may be a bit low but he’ll probably proceed to play a blinder in front of the Sons of Ben, so what’s the point? I’m sure Oscar Pareja has had words with Cummings and co. about the need for consistently offensive play and testing the youngster early doors though.

The Rapids will have to play offensively, as they have promised for much of the offseason. With a raucous Philly crowd for their home opener, and being a team eager to bounce back from the defeat in Portland, this will be no place for the Rapids to soak it all up and hope to score on the counter.

The starting line-up looks likely to be very similar to last week against Columbus. Martin Rivero still does not have his International Transfer Certificate from Argentina and did not travel. That means a likely same threesome upfront. While the ever confident Quincy Amarikwa did everything he could to get in the coach’s face with his spectacular goal last week (why was that not GOTW?) and his equally spectacular celebration, Pareja had plenty of good words for rookie Tony Cascio and the lanky Adrien Brody lookalike will probably get the nod. The midfield and defense will not change either. Mastroeni appears to have recovered fully from any after effects of his blow to the head last weekend. His ongoing battle with possible concussion issues remains a worry for the team though.

Soccer is unpredictable and it’s foolish to come out and say what the result will be. The Rapids will be happy with a point and full health, that’s for sure.

The Rapids are happy this morning to state that a new era has arrived. So much so that they even project a starting line-up for today’s season opener against the Columbus Crew. That’s almost unheard of.

The bad news is that newly signed playmaker Martin Rivero looks unlikely to play unless his International Transfer Certificate arrives miraculously from Argentina before kick-off. I don’t know, can’t help feeling that’s a very bad piece of planning on the Rapids’ part. There is so much preparation that is put in during preseason but a simple logistical step of getting a piece of paper seems to have been overlooked by someone. Rivero was probably bench material for the opener but even so.

Of the eleven likely to start, Tony Cascio stands out the most. The Adrien Brody lookalike has clearly impressed during preseason, not least scoring four times. The rookie, picked up in the Superdraft, is slated to patrol one of the flanks up top with veteran Brian Mullan on the other. The Crew will hopefully remember Mullan’s outstanding performance against them in the playoff last year. The guy was eveywhere. These two will join Omar Cummings on the frontline. The Jamaican has scored in the last four season openers.

One of Oscar Pareja’s big new signings, Jaime Castrillon, will be making his debut today in the midfield with Pablo Mastroeni and Jeff Larentowicz. This could be quite a tasty midfield combination going forward and one which should not be overlooked, but inevitably will be, by media outside of Colorado. Not by the other teams, I’m sure, but by the media for sure. Curious, no?

Drew Moor has been nursing a hamstring problem which kept him out of the Colorado School of Mines game last week but is raring to go aongside Marvell Wynne. Luis Zapata looks likely to be another debutant at left back with Anthony Wallace (season-ending) and Hunter Freeman both out. Expect Quincy Amarikwa or Andre Akpan to come off the bench at some point and regular midfield benchers Ross LaBauex and Wells Thompson to be warming the wood again. Tyrone Marshall will be a reliable replacement for one of Moor or Wynne if needed.

The talk is over, the games begin. Expectations are high, hopefully not too high. No score predictions, who can really tell? But hopeful for an opening day victory.

ColoradoRapidsFan.com will be covering the big game here via our Twitter feed, or at www.Twitter.com/corapidsfan. If you want to ask any questions, you can tweet us at @corapidsfan.

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.

Terry Cooke stepped onto the pitch in the 65th minute and bent a free kick in the net, a curling ball reminiscent of a more famous Englishman. After a massive mistake by Cory Gibbs led to a Wizards equalizer, Cooke sent a gorgeous outlet pass to Colin Clarke who hit a streaking Omar Cummings for the winning goal.

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.

The Colorado Rapids have sent former MLS MVP Christian Gomez back to DC United in exchange for veteran midfielder Ivan Guerrero. We also received a Designated Player roster spot and D.C. United’s second round 2010 SuperDraft Pick.

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.

The Colorado Rapids have unveiled their new official team blog, nicknamed the “Undercurrent.”

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!