Colorado went to Mexico hoping that they could steal a win. Santos obliged them by starting their reserves. Then we found out the Rapids started half of their reserves and that was the end of that hope.Colorado controlled play for much of the first half, but every time the ball got to the attackers it died. Kandji and Folan had no real idea what to do with the ball when they got it, and the few times they got a good look they couldn't put the ball on target. At halftime I was optimistic that the Rapids could steal a win, but that ended quickly with a great volley by Santos in the 55th minute to go up 1-0, and then they doubled the lead in the 67th minute with another good volley. After that Colorado was done.
Colorado had one final hope tonight, if Isidro Metapan and Real Espana played to a draw the Rapids would get through. Unfortunately Metapan won 3-2 and claimed second place in the group. The Rapids failed to advance because their reserves only got one point against Real Espana, the weakest team in the group. A win in either game would have been enough to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals.
Other Observations:
- Why does Gary Smith continue to try to put out the minimum lineup he thinks he can get away with? There was no reason to fly Nyassi and Cummings all the way to Mexico, then bring them off the bench after we're down 1-0.
- I appreciate the effort Kimura made at right mid, but he's far too defensive for that role unless your other midfielders are attack minded (and last night they weren't).
- Folan, still awful.
- Ceus had no chance on either goal and put in a solid night.
- In general the defense and midfield got their jobs done, the attack just died whenever it got much past midfield.
Player of the Game: Jeff Larentowicz. Solid night leading the team but he couldn't get it done without attacking help.
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2 comments:
I think you've been a bit harsh with Folan this season. He has shown that when he gets halfway decent service, he can put the ball on frame.
I don't have a problem with Smith's lineup choices, considering he has to juggle two competitions. what I have a problem with are his tactics in the last couple games. Against RSL he started our two small, fast strikers; but then had the midfield moving the ball out wide and send crosses into the box. Against Santos, he started two tall strikers and had the midfield playing on the ground, straight up the middle.
As for the player of the game, I would go with Miguel Comminges. He was an absolute revelation at left back.
We apparently Folan has only gotten good service 4 times in 1600 minutes of play this season then (since 2 of his goals were PK's). He had a great chance or two against Santos and couldn't get the ball on frame.
Even if Folan is just a poacher that relies on other people to do the setup work, he shouldn't be playing for the Rapids because we need our strikers to be more than that.
I agree that Comminges played well on Wednesday.
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