Rapids Sleep For 10 Minutes, Concede 3 Goals

The Rapids checked out between the 8th and 18th minute on Saturday night.  By the time they checked back in they were down 3-0 and the game was essentially over.  Defensive miscues across the backline meant the end of Colorado's 23-game regular season home undefeated streak.  While the home side arguably outplayed Nashville for the rest of the match that didn't really matter (and was partially because Nashville was happy to sit back and park the bus).  The Rapids now have 3 weeks over this international break to figure out how to hit the reset button and get their season in motion.

Random Musings:

• There were questions about offside on the first Nashville goal.  What many are missing (including me initially) is that Rosenberry's momentum trying to cover the cross took him off the field beyond the endline.  For  purposes of offside, a player off the field in the run of play (i.e. not waiting for ref's permission to come back on after an injury) is considered to be on the endline.  So Rosenberry and Yarbrough were keeping everyone onside.
• On that goal, Abubakar got outmuscled for the header, while Wilson was ball-watching and left Sapong unmarked.  Easy score.
• On the second Nashville got a quick restart, Everyone lost Mukhtar for a second, then when Lalas found him he gave him too much room to get off a narrow angle shot and Yarbrough got beat near post.  We should have stopped it but it was also some good play from Nashville.
• On the final Nashville goal Mukhtar ran right in front of goal, Lalas stepped to the far post while Trusty was covering near post, which gave him plenty of room to head in the cross.  Yarbrough probably could have come out for it, but he would also expected one of his center backs to be marking the most dangerous attacker for the opposition.
• 9 minutes, 3 goals, all 3 central defenders and the goalkeeper could have done more to stop them but didn't.  After that the team looked pretty stunned.
• While Markanich, getting the start after a good start last week, wasn't directly responsible for any of the goals he also didn't have a good night, ball-watching and getting caught out of position.
• The fan vote gave Lewis the man of the match, but I'm not sure why.  Playing 90 minutes as a forward and not getting a shot off does not a good game make.
• Zardes did nothing in his 45 minutes on the pitch either.  But then he's expecting Lewis to set him up.
• Barrios came in and was dangerous, but as we've seen for a while now he isn't turning that danger into goals.  I'm not sure why its not happening for him but its not.
• I was serious before.  The Rapids needs to take the next 3 weeks and get their heads on straight.  There are too many people on this team checking out too often in games.  We didn't do that at all last year, this year we're getting burned by it.  There are maybe 3-4 names that are guaranteed starters right now (Yarbrough, Price, Rubio, maybe Zardes), everyone else needs to step their game up.

Man of the Match: Diego Rubio.  Yeah, I took the easy road and went with the goal scorer, but it was a nice free kick.

Getting The Band Back Together

Nashville entered the league in 2020 with a trip to Colorado on the schedule.  I have heard that the plan for that day was to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the 2010 MLS Cup winning Rapids, since Gary Smith was (and still is) the head coach of Nashville FC.  COVID derailed that plan and 12th anniversaries aren't as memorable, but we'll still see some old friends back at the Dick tomorrow night as Gary has kept a number of the 2010 crew with him over the years.  His first assistant coach is still Steve Guppy, Kosuke Kimura is also an assistant coach, and Matt Pickens is the goalkeeper coach.  (For many years Jaime Smith was running their youth academy, but he moved on this past offseason.)  Kickoff for the 2010 reunion tour is at 7pm tomorrow, TV is available if you can find it.

Injury Report:

OUT: M Ollie Larraz

QUESTIONABLE: F Gyasi Zardes

Disciplinary Report:

SUSPENDED: D Lucas Esteves (One game suspension handed down by DisCo)

SUSPENDED AFTER NEXT YELLOW: D Auston Trusty, F Diego Rubio

Today the Disciplinary Committee announced further discipline from the fracas in Kansas City.  Salloi and Esteves both got another game suspension, and Fontas got fined, for their red card actions at the end of the match.  Coach Fraser, Acosta, Irwin, Price, and Vallecilla all got fined for entering the field of play.  I have heard there may have been some appeals before this announcement, but regardless the idea that what Esteves and Salloi did were equivalent is hard to swallow.  Regardless, time to move on.

(If you're wondering about the kit color above, the league is wearing their 'Save the Oceans' jerseys this weekend made out of plastic recycled from the ocean, so that's the 'home' team color scheme for everyone)

I think we see a lineup very similar to last week, with the primary change being Trusty's return pushing Rosenberry back outside.  Markanich showed well enough to fill in for Esteves again, and the rest doesn't really need changing that much.  I kind of expect Lewis to get the nod over Barrios but I won't be surprised if it doesn't happen.

Prediction: 2-1 win, goals by Rubio and Kaye.  These teams are pretty evenly matched, but I think or home edge gets us 3 points.  It won't be easy though. and we'll concede our first goal from the run of play at home this season, but we squeak through with the win entering a much needed break.

2022 Salary Info

This actually happened last week, but a 3=game week leaves me very little time to cover anything else.  The MLS Players Union released the 2022 salary information.  Here's the list for the Rapids, then we'll get into some analysis.

The first number is the base salary in the contract, the second number is the 2022 guaranteed compensation number, which includes things like guaranteed bonuses and other benefits that aren't in the base salary.

Lalas	Abubakar	$235,000.00	$272,125.00
Bryan	Acosta	$650,000.00	$706,667.00
Max	Alves da Silva	$212,000.00	$293,360.00
Sebastian	Anderson	$105,000.00	$106,667.00
Michael	Barrios	$650,000.00	$680,000.00
Cole	Bassett	$450,000.00	$450,000.00
Steven	Beitashour	$150,000.00	$172,500.00
Michael	Edwards	$84,000.00	$84,000.00
Lucas	Esteves	$373,032.00	$415,503.00
Braian	Galván	$318,000.00	$414,322.00
Clint	Irwin	$200,000.00	$213,300.00
Mark-Anthony	Kaye	$700,000.00	$700,000.00
Aboubacar	Keita	$135,000.00	$135,000.00
Oliver	Larraz	$65,500.00	$65,500.00
Jonathan	Lewis	$410,000.00	$435,000.00
Anthony	Markanich	$65,500.00	$65,500.00
Philip	Mayaka	$100,000.00	$113,000.00
Nicolás	Mezquida	$84,000.00	$84,000.00
Drew	Moor	$150,000.00	$172,500.00
Jack	Price	$662,500.00	$725,000.00
Abraham	Rodriguez	$84,000.00	$84,000.00
Keegan	Rosenberry	$400,000.00	$400,000.00
Diego	Rubio	$585,000.00	$629,583.00
Andre	Shinyashiki	$140,000.00	$150,000.00
"Yaya"	Toure	$65,500.00	$80,118.00
Jackson	Travis	$65,500.00	$68,000.00
Auston	Trusty	$718,000.00	$890,292.00
Gustavo	Vallecilla	$312,000.00	$344,880.00
Collen	Warner	$84,000.00	$84,000.00
Danny	Wilson	$330,000.00	$354,750.00
Darren	Yapi	$65,500.00	$76,333.00
William	Yarbrough	$300,000.00	$375,000.00
Gyasi	Zardes	$1,500,000.00	$1,550,000.00

For the first time maybe ever I look at this list and don't think "Player X is getting paid WHAT?!?!".  There are a few players not living up to their salaries yet, but that happens every year.  There's nobody I look at and think "that number is really out of line with his play in recent years".  The closest is Zardes, who only had 9 goals last season, but that's after 3 straight years of double-digit goals.  So its really hard to say he's overpaid this year.

There are some notable numbers here though.  Max is surprisingly low on the base salary.  We paid a million to get him, but at only $212K base salary it really does appear he's a signing for the future.  Maybe we're expecting too much out of him this soon?

Trusty jumped from $375K to $718K with his move to Arsenal.  And it might be more than that.  As I understand it the number the union lists for loaned players is the salary their MLS team is paying them, that might just be a portion of the overall salary.

Kaye got a bigger raise than I expected in preseason, not that he doesn't deserve it.  He just about tripled his base pay from $235K to $700k.

Bassett also got his salary tripled, from $150K to $450K, and is arguably still underpaid.

Mezquida took a large pay cut down to $84K.  There were rumors he looked around before re-signing with the Rapids, who reportedly really like his locker room presence.  I have to assume there wasn't another team giving him a significant offer if he took that kind of cut.

Looking at what some of our former Rapids are getting, Badji is getting $500K from Cincinnati.  Good for him.  Get paid.  But I'm glad the Rapids aren't paying him that much.  As you can see Shinyashiki is still listed as a Rapid in the salary info but Charlotte has taken on his $150K.  Kort Ford got a $10K raise in his new contract in Kansas City, so its looking like that move was more about getting playing time and a fresh start than money.

The Athletic (paywall) had a good analysis of salaries across the league.  The Rapids have the third lowest salary total in MLS, with only Charlotte and FSL bellow them.  However had we not traded for Zardes we would have been the only team under $10 million in total salaries.  Along those lines the Rapids spend the least amount on their top 3 and 5 paid players as a percentage of their total salaries.  Zardes' salary makes the Rapids only the 5th lowest in percentage of salary spent on their top paid player.  Colorado is also evenly balanced across GK+D/M/F, more so than almost any other team, with the percentage splits being 36%/35%/29% by position.  That's the 4th highest percentage in the league spent on goalkeeper and defenders.

All told the Rapids are spending about $660K in GAM to buy down players making over the max salary ($612, 500).  That list is Bryan Acosta, Michael Barrios, Mark-Anthony Kaye, Jack Price, Diego Rubio, and Auston Trusty.  Gyasi Zardes is a DP, so KSE is paying out just under $900K out of their own pocket to cover his salary.  My educated guess at the beginning of the season was somewhere between $700K-$800K so I wasn't too far off (and I was too generous).

Rapids Ride Home Dominance To Another Big Win

At this point we should just stop doubting Colorado at home.  23 regular season home matches without a loss at the Dick, and only 2 losses in the last 36 regular season home games.  LAFC and Seattle, the league's current best and CONCACAF's current best, came in here in a little over a week and walked out with a combined 0 points.  The Rapids find a way when they're on home soil.  Even if sometimes they get a little help from the refs.

Random Musings:

• Interesting lineup with Markanich starting.  I believe that was to allow Rosenberry to play center back to save his legs.  Its also somewhat indicative that Fraser doesn't rate Seb Anderson very highly.
• For a first start though, Markanich looked good.  He had a few rookie mistakes but had some good crosses and got into the attack often.
• Beitashour showed his wheels at times too.  He's getting more minutes than I expected this season and playing well.
• Captain Jack was back with his first start since injury.  We play much better with him than without.
• MAK's injury wasn't great.  Hopeful that its just a finger in the eye and he'll recover quickly.
• Lewis stepped in well for MAK, he got credit for the goal because he got a piece of the ball as it crossed the line, but in reality Rubio did the work and it really was an Own Goal.
• The Sounders fans are complaining that Rubio committed a foul to start the goal-scoring sequence.  IMO it was a good no-call, but even if it was a foul it wasn't the clear and obvious type foul that would negate a goal.
• Now the PK that went to a (very long) VAR replay was probably something that should have been called.  Based on the post-game answers to questions asked by the Sounders' pool reporter, ref Tim Ford decided there wasn't clear evidence that the foul took place in the box.  There was a lack of clear evidence just like there was a lack of clear evidence that SJ had handled the ball two weeks ago, aka its clearly in the box but there's just enough wiggle room to justify not overturning the call.  So we got our payback for that missed call in SJ, and a 0-1 loss and 1-0 win is 3 points while two 1-1 draws is only 2 points.
• In general I wasn't impressed with Ford.  His signals were unclear and what was and wasn't a foul varied throughout the game.
• A nice bit of time-wasting by Barrios late.  Ford was trying to hurry our subs off the field as much as possible and knowing Barrios was coming off tried to get him moving.  Barrios' number hadn't been put up on the board yet though, so he just feigned ignorance about being subbed and didn't move until his number went up.  Sadly that felt like his strongest contribution to the match.
• Shout out to Abubakar for tracking back and covering for Yarbrough when Will had to come out to close the angle on Morris and got chipped.
• Now we finally get a week off before hosting the MLS Cup 2010 reunion against Nashville Saturday night.  Then its 19 days off for the international break, something this team desperately needs.
• One benefit about the Sounders being in town is an increased amount of Huskies gear around the Dick.  Go Dawgs!

Man of the Match: William Yarbrough.  Only officially made a couple of saves but they were both huge, plus forced Morris into that weak chip that Lalas cleared.  And was great at time-wasting too.

Sunday Night Football

An oddly timed match this week worked out with the weather report, for once.  By the time of kickoff on Sunday night the storm should have blown through and temps should be around 50 degrees.  So cool, but not another Snow Clasico.  With Seattle in town some Rapids fans are hoping new Broncos QB and part Sounders owner Russell Wilson will make an appearance.  The only reason I'm hoping to see him is to ask him why he didn't give up some of his salary if he wanted an offensive line in Seattle.  Traitor.

Injury Report:

OUT: M Ollie Larraz

QUESTIONABLE: M Jack Price

Disciplinary Report:

SUSPENDED: D Auston Trusty, D Lucas Esteves

SUSPENDED AFTER ONE YELLOW: F Diego Rubio

Again, nothing official from the team yet so I'm listing last week's injury report.  I'll update if we get something before game time.  Safe bet Zardes will be Questionable at best given how he left the game in KC.

With this being the 5th game  in 15 days (one of which was played over 2 days) its really hard to predict a lineup.  Before Esteves got his red  I thought we might see Beitashour at right back to finally give Rosenberry a break but that doesn't look possible now.  I'm guessing with the cooler weather Price won't start, but if he dies we could see Acosta on the bench or moving to a less wing-heavy 5-3-2.

Prediction: 1-1 draw, goal by Rubio.  This is a bit optimistic, but we're a better team at home.  Seattle is a good team, despite their record, but they're tired too and are talking about rotating their squad a bit.  I think we eek out a draw to keep our home unbeaten streak going.

Chaos, Not Points, Awaited Colorado in KC

That was a mess last night.  The same sloppy Rapids team we've seen on the road most of the season made the I-70 drive (ok, they actually flew) to KC and came back with more red cards than goals and points combined.  Defensive blunders cost us the game, losing our heads might cost us the next one.  I can't say KC deserved their 2-1 win, but I can't say Colorado deserved any points either.  For the record, the Rapids are still winless on the road in all competitions this season, with the only non-loss being the draw in Houston.  In those games we've scored 5 goals (2 of them in our last 2) and have a -11 goal differential.

Random Musings:

• The Rapids actually had more shots, more shots on goal, and more than double the xG of SKC.  They just folded at critical moments.  Its fair to say they out played the Sporks, but what matters are the numbers on the scoreboard.
• Both goals were team failures.  Its easy to pick out one person, and we'll get to him, but really there were multiple players failing to perform at the same time.
• On the first KC goal Danny Wilson commits a foul, then after the whistle blows turns his back to the play and calmly retreats.  KC decide to quickly restart and play Salloi into space.  By the time Wilson realizes it he's out of the play.  Salloi was Abubakar's man, and he had already been skinned by him a couple of times in the first 24 minutes.  Lalas got beat again.  Price is hustling to cover for Wilson's absence but gets there a second late.  To wrap up the general failure Yarbrough commits a cardinal sin of goalkeeping and gets beat near post.  Don't get me wrong, Lalas is largely at fault for the goal, but if Wilson is paying attention or Yarbrough forces him to go wide there's a decent chance they don't score (I don't blame Price for being a bit late trying to cover for Wilson)
• The good news is that the Rapids bounced right back and forced KC into their own defensive blunder.  A great cross field pass from Wilson spring Lewis, who put in a cross along the ground that caused a KC defender to collide with their keeper.  Zardes couldn't turn on the ball but knocked it back and a crashing Esteves finished the job.
• Coming right out of half the Rapids broke down on defense again.  This time it was combined with bad luck.  This time a cross-field pass to Salloi was slotted behind Abubakar to where Salloi was in space.  Lalas was able to turn on it in time to get his foot on it, but just popped it up into the air where it continued to the KC attacker.  The unmarked Salloi took one touch and beat Yarbrough for the goal.  While Abubakar was the Rapids defender directly involved in the play, he was not really at fault.  He was tight on his man, and when he saw Salloi in space about to receive the ball he made his best attempt to stop it.  The failure here was Rosenberry ball-watching the whole play and letting KC's best attacker get into open space behind him.
• After that things got chippy, then they got violent.  7 yellows and 4 reds were given put by referee Drew Fischer (named today as a VAR for the World Cup) and its hard to argue with many of them.  But obviously everyone wants to talk about the red cards.
• First of all, Trusty has to be smarter.  In the third minute Fischer showed Acosta a yellow for time wasting for kicking the ball away after a foul call, something that ahs been emphasized by PRO this year.  So why did Trusty think he could get away with it in the 74th?  Then while on a yellow he gave a decent body check to a KC attacker.  It was the type of foul that some refs wouldn't have pulled a card on, but Fischer had just given out two other cards in the last 10 minutes and clearly wasn't willing to put up with much.  Dumb decisions by Auston.
• The game ended with a cheap shot from Salloi on Mezquida that (eventually) got the red it deserved.  Taking out the plant leg of a player from behind on a free kick restart is pure violent conduct and should result it a longer than one game suspension.  Some KC fans are trying to justify the frustration by claiming that had Fischer whistled Barrios for a foul a couple of seconds earlier it would never have happened.  While true, the missed foul was iffy at best, Barrios did take down the KC attacker but he nicked the ball while doing it and the foul, if there was one, was due to feet getting tangled while making the play.  Its the run-of-the-mill type foul that gets called half a dozen times per game.  No malice, no violence, and borderline clean.  No justification for getting frustrated din a game you're winning 2-1 at the end of stoppage time.
• The cheap shot on Mezquida brought an immediate response as Esteves gave a full force shove to Salloi's back (just beating Kaye to him) sending him flying to the turf.  KC jumped right back in, with Fontas putting a choke hold on Rubio literally as Rubio was standing complaining to Fischer's face about the Salloi foul.  Easiest red card in existence.
• In the end Salloi had his yellow upgraded to red via VAR and Esteves and Fontas were both shown red immediately.  Clearly the right calls all the way around and the game finished 9 on 9.   This is only the third time in MLS history that a game finished with 4 red cards, and the first since 2000.
• My only complaint about what happened is that Esteves really could have been smarter and realized we're without Trusty on Sunday, we couldn't afford to lose him.  That said, I can't complain about sticking up for a teammate like that.
• So we come home to face Seattle on Sunday without Trusty and Esteves, and probably without Zardes.  Lost in the colorful ending to the game was that Zardes had to leave the match in the 64th minute with a non-contact hamstring injury.  That's the cherry on top of this wonderful sundae from last night.

Man of the Match: Jack Price.  He only played the first 45 but we were a notably better team with him than without him.  Getting him back to full fitness is going to be important to figuring out the rest of the season.  If Danny Wilson hadn't fallen asleep on the first KC goal he would have had a good shout for the MOTM honor.

Headed Down I-70 Tomorrow Night

The fun never stops for the Rapids.  Coming off the big win on Saturday Colorado heads east to face Sporting KC tomorrow night.  Both teams are a bit beat up and tired but one is coming off a win and one is coming off a record 7-2 loss in Portland.  KC will want to bounce back so the Rapids need to be on guard.  Kickoff tomorrow is at 6:30, and we all know the TV situation.

Injury Report:

OUT: M Ollie Larraz

QUESTIONABLE: M Jack Price

This is the same injury report as Saturday, as the official game notes haven't gone out yet.  But reports are things haven't changed.  KC has 6 players listed as Out or Questionable and 2 players suspended.

Yeah, that backline is a bit of a mess.  But at some point Trusty and Rosenberry have to get a night off.  In reality there's about 18 players that could start tomorrow night so this is a real guess.

Prediction: 1-1 draw, goal by Zardes.  Mid-week on the road is tough, especially for a team that hasn't done well away from home yet this season.  Despite KC's tailspin its hard to predict a win right now.  But I think a draw is a real possibility.

Colorado Shocks Pundits, Fans, and LAFC

Well, safe to say nobody saw that coming.  In a match where the odds were stacked heavily against the Rapids, they simply came out and dominated the game and the score line.  After the match we found out from Coach Fraser that the trip home from Minneapolis for the Rapids was worse than we knew, with them not arriving back at the Dick until Friday morning.  So in the space of 52 hours the Rapids played 72 minutes in Minnesota, got stuck over night, got back to DSG and reviewed film before a quick training session, got some rest, and went out and beat the best team in the league.  An impressive result.

Random Musings:

• Certainly two penalties in the first 25 minutes helped, but despite LAFC's protests they were both legitimate.  You can't kick a guy in the head (1st) or truck a guy over (2nd) and get away with it.
• And yes, the VAR on the penalty kick was fairly clear that LAFC's keeper came off his line.
• That's about the only mistake he made all game.  Without him the Rapids win by 4 or more.  His save on Lewis in the second half was save of the week material.
• Even without the PKs the stats slightly favored the Rapids.  And you can't just ignore the  PKs because the were earned by the Rapids getting the ball into dangerous  positions.  End to end Colorado was the better team.
• While LA's keeper was busy Yarbrough had very little to do.  In fact he came out at halftime for some extra warm-up time because he got so little action in the first half.  His kick save near the end of the game was the closest LAFC got to bothering him.
• Maybe or best defensive game of the season.  Trusty and Abubakar were co-MOTM, and Trusty (along with Fraser) were named to the Team of the Week.
• Bryan Acosta was arguably our best attacker, but everyone had a good match.  We're going to need to work him into the side more now that Price is back.
• And yes, Captain Jack is back!  His first free kick was a perfect cross and Zardes' header was just off the post.
• Speaking of Zardes, great to see him get his first goal.  Now to get him one from the run of play.
• Things don't get easier from here.  We're off to KC on Wednesday night, then back here Sunday night to face Seattle.

Man of the Match: Lalas Abubakar.  I could have easily gone with Trusty, as mentioned, or Acosta, or even Rubio (for drawing one PK and scoring the other).  I went with Lalas because the defense really deserved it and I think he just edged out Trusty.  Maybe just because Trusty has higher expectations on him now.  But they both played great.  Lalas made sure nothing go through him, and distributed the ball well.

Quick Turnaround For Colorado

After the delays in Minnesota with the Open Cup match there's a 48 hour turn around before we hit the field against LAFC tomorrow.  An unfortunate combination of a road game last weekend, the delay due to the weather in Minnesota, and a nationally televised game on Univision means there were no good options for the Rapids other than to just push through.  We'll do the best we can with the kickoff at 1:30 tomorrow (more like 1:50 with the pregame show).  As mentioned the game is on Univision and in English on Twitter, so it will not be blacked out in Denver.

Injury Report:

OUT: M Ollie Larraz

QUESTIONABLE: M Jack Price

Obviously with the short turnaround we're going to see some rotation, my best guess:

Formation isn't perfect here, but you get the idea.  Rosenberry is going to have to be the ironman and I'm really hoping Wilson is up to starting.  I'm assuming Price won't be available.

Prediction: 2-0 loss.  There's nothing about this game that favors us other than the home turf, which isn't enough.  We're on very short rest, we're not playing well, and LAFC is the best team in the league at the moment.  If we get in a position to get a point I will have no issue with Fraser parking the bus at home and accepting it.

Rapids Deliver On-Brand Loss In Open Cup

Colorado restarted their game against Minnesota at noon today, and for that next almost 70 minutes of game time kept United off the scoreboard.  Of course there was almost 73 minutes plus stoppage left in the game.  Worse yet, Minnesota had gone down to 10 men a few minutes before they scored the winner.

I can't speak much to the game, being in the middle of the workday I could only track the score and see highlights later.  In general though Fraser brought them out in a formation designed to conserve energy and minimize chances as with another game in 48 hours he didn't want to wear the team out.  This left us relying on our attackers to make the most of their few chances...and they didn't.  Combined with some questionable defending at times it was a recipe for the Rapids finding yet another embarrassing way to blow a USOC match.

It will now be at least 17 years since the Rapids have beaten a MLS side in the Open Cup.  They have lost their last 7 Open Cup games on the road.  Its also been 5+ years since we've won a knockout game/series (the last time we did was beating the Oklahoma City Energy in the 4th round of the 2017 USOC).  In short when the chips are down, we fold.

Next up, in 48 hours (almost to the minute from the end of the game today) top of the table LAFC.  At least it's at home?

Open Cup Game Postponed Until Noon Tomorrow

After getting 19 minutes in and each side scoring (Mezquida for the Rapids) the game went into a lightning/tornado/rain/hail delay and its just been determined there's no chance of getting the playing surface ready to paly before city ordinances kick in.  Events at the stadium have to start by 10:59pm CT (9:59pm MT), which is 20 minutes from now.  So the game will be restarted in the 19th minute with the score 1-1 at noon MT/1pm CT tomorrow.  The game should be streaming on ESPN+ again at that time.

Open Cup Tomorrow

The Rapids are in Minnesota tomorrow night for the U.S. Open Cup 4th Round.  The good news is that the game will be on ESPN+ with no blackouts.  The bad news is that this is the Rapids in the USOC, so we kind of know how this is going to go.  Robin Fraser is sating all the right things about taking it seriously, but he said that about the CCL.  And Hudson said that about the Open Cup (not sure Casey said it about the Open Cup in 2019), and before that Pablo said it, and before that Smith.  Despite all that, we've rarely acted like we're taking it seriously, losing to teams like New Mexico, Atlanta (pre-MLS), Nashville (pre-MLS), and Orlando (also pre-MLS) in the past.  Oh, and Minnesota (pre-MLS).  You have to go back to 2006 to find the last time we beat a MLS team in the tournament.

So, yeah, I don't have high hopes for tomorrow.  To be honest though, this would be a year to blow it off.  Our upcoming schedule is tough, we're in a bit of a hole, and out injury report is not good.  I expect to see guys like Yapi and Anderson get significant minutes tomorrow.  One player we won't see is Zardes, who's last appearance for the Crew was in their 3rd round loss which means he's cup-tied and can't appear for us.

I never make a score prediction on the USOC, since we really don't know what kind of lineup we're going to see, but I will go on record in predicting a loss.

Rapids Flat As The Eastern Plains

Well, that was a lousy game to watch.  Colorado was disjointed, flat, and passive for 90 minutes and San Jose took advantage to get a 1-0 win.  Really the team is a bit of a mess right now, with inconsistent play all over the place and we can't seem to get up for a match at all on the road.  This is the first real challenge of Fraser's tenure, and with a tough two weeks ahead (@Minnesota in USOC play, LAFC at home, @SKC, and Seattle at home in a 10 day span) we could be in a bad spot going into Memorial Day against Nashville.  Its quite possible we'll be on a 5 game winless streak unless Fraser can turn things around quickly.

Lets talk about the elephant in the room, the non-handball call on San Jose.  First of all, I think it was a mistake for VAR official Kevin Stott to not send it down for the center ref, Tori Penso, to review.  IMO it was a clear and obvious mistake.  Its not a mistake I blame the ref for making in real-time, we're talking about the difference of an inch or so, but VAR is supposed to see these errors and fix them.

That said, we should also talk about why what seems like an obvious call is actually very difficult in this case.  Every couple of years FIFA and the IFAB (who are the ones who write the Laws of the Game) try to revise the handball rule to make it "clearer", and every time they somehow make it worse.  The current Law 12 defines a handball as, among other things, a ball that hits the hand or arm "below the bottom of the armpit".  Where's the bottom of the armpit?  Well it doesn't define that.  One of the rules of thumb floating around has been "the end of the sleeve".  So when you watch the replay, what the VAR is looking for is a clear shot that shows the ball hit below the "bottom of the armpit".  Here's the image that's been floating around since the game:

Looking at that, that appears to be low enough to be a handball.  But I went and took my own freeze frame for the moment of impact from the video.  Here's what I got:

This is a frame or two earlier than the first picture, and the ball is just slightly higher, to the point that you could argue its hitting on the sleeve, and is in that grey area of the armpit.

Now I still think its low enough that it should have been reviewed, called, and a red card given (for DOGSO-H).  But you can see that since VAR can only send it down if they think a clear and obvious error has happened and the handball rule is vague enough for their to be a grey area, this is actually a much more difficult call than it seems it should be.  And that's not because Stott is a bad ref, or that Penso is a bad ref, or that MLS has bad officials.  Its because the rules are stupid right now.  The league had a second similar issue the next day where TFC was not awarded a goal that was probably a clearer call than this one, so we'll have to see later this week if PRO makes a statement on either call.

Now all of that aside, the Rapids should not have been in a place where they needed the VAR official to make a 1-2 inch determination in order to just get a point out of San Jose.  Good teams don't leave it in the hands of the refs to make a game-deciding call.  We should have taken the game to them and won it outright.

Man of the Match: William Yarbrough.  Not many Rapids had a good game, and many of them had poor games, but Yarbrough kept us in the match and wasn't at fault on the goal.

Rock the Casbah

 

The Rapids head out to San Jose tomorrow night to face the formerly-known-as-the-Clash.  Colorado is looking for its 100th road win all-time, which if I were the Front Office I might not be promoting, given that this is season 27, which means on average we've won less than 4 road games a season.  Not exactly something to hang your hat on.  Kickoff tomorrow is at 8pm and, well, we all know the TV situation.

Injury Report:

OUT: M Ollie Larraz

QUESTIONABLE: D Danny Wilson, M Jack Price

Disciplinary Report:

SUSPENDED: F Diego Rubio (red card against Portland)

Reports from training this week were that Wilson was working with the team while Price was still recovering on the side.

I think, due to Rubio's suspension, that despite the success of the 4-3-3 last week Fraser will move back to the 5-4-1/5-2-3 that we've been using for a couple of years.  With only one real striker it seems to be what Fraser likes.  If he does stick with the 4-3-3 we could see Max in midfield (replacing Vallecilla in the lineup above).  I haven't heard about any setbacks to Esteves but if he can't go Beitashour will be happy to play in his home town I'm sure.

Prediction: 2-1 win, goals by Esteves and Barrios.  San Jose is a bad team.  They fired their manager a couple of weeks ago, so they aren't as bad as their record, but they aren't good.  We should be able to win this game even with our missing players, though it won't be easy.  Almeyda had them playing a nonsensical pressing style that leaked goals like a sieve so their defensive record looks awful, but I think we can still get a pair of goals and win on the road.

Rapids Trade Andre Shinyashiki To Charlotte

The rumor that broke last Friday became official today as Colorado traded former Rookie of the Year Andre Shinyashiki to Charlotte.  In return we get 225K in guaranteed GAM, $175K more of GAM depending on performance, and we retain 50% of any sale of Shinyashiki.

Andre started out hot when he joined the league in 2019, appearing 31 times, starting 18 games, and putting up 7 goals and 3 assists as a rookie.  His development seemed to plateau at that level though.  In the 33 starts and 55 appearances he made after that he put up 9 goals and 3 assists.  The league, and the roster of the Rapids, was moving past him and there were too many attackers on this roster and nut enough minutes after the Zardes trade.

The Zardes trade is a good comparison with this trade.  Two strikers, one a fringe National Team player and one a former Rookie of the Year.  We spent $300K in guaranteed GAM, and up to $350K more this season to acquire a possible National Team player (the rest of the potential GAM is in 2023), but we got back $225K and up to $175K more for a player who was struggling to get game time.  A net $75K-$250K of GAM for the difference between Zardes and Shinyashiki is good work for the Front Office.  There's a reason that the recent poll from the Athletic of team GM's found Padraig Smith one of the easiest to work with and hardest to negotiate with.

Rapids Fell Timbers

A much needed bounce back for the burgundy boys on Saturday night.  Colorado controlled the game almost from start to finish and if anything the 2-0 scoreline was generous to Portland.  The Timbers really had nothing on the night, having only one shot with more than 0.15 xG (though to be fair the Rapids only had 2, and neither of them were scored).    Portland never really felt like they were going to get an equalizer, but at the same time the way the Rapids season has gone so far the result never really felt safe until Kaye scored in stoppage time.

Random Musings:

• Interesting lineup with the injuries, reverting to a 4-3-3.  We looked better in it than we have in the 5-4-1/5-2-3 we've played most of the season, but small sample size.  Is it a better fit for us or did it just work because the Timbers aren't great right now?
• The VAR overturn on Abubakar's goal was the right one, even if it was a bit ticky-tack.  Lewis was offside when Lalas headed the ball, and he is in the keeper's way (his foot appears to be stepping on the keeper's).  I doubt the keeper is saving that if Lewis isn't there, but thems the rules.
• While we're on the officiating, it was a consistent if annoying night from the center official.  Per Joseph Samelson there were 21 fouls, and 11 if them were carded.  That's a unusual ratio to say the least.
• None of the yellow cards stood out to me as being particularly bad.  I don't remember Rubio's first but his second was an unnecessary tackle while on a yellow card and he followed it up by mouthing off.  At that point the second yellow is almost for being dumb while on a yellow card.
• Before getting sent off though Rubio was having a good game as a withdrawn striker/attacking mid.  In another week his free kick goal would be a favorite for goal of the week but there were some bombs this week.
• Lewis had a good game too, but in the two key moments he didn't come through.  First the offside mentioned above.  Second he had a great 1 on 1 with the keeper in the second half he failed to score.  Its those moments that have kept him from taking the step forward everyone has been waiting for.
• Max didn't shine, but he wasn't bad either.  He was just kind of there.  Still plenty of time to adjust, but its time to start showing a bit more than what we've seen.
• Great goal from Kaye to end the match.  I wanted Barrios to go to the corner and kill time but he saw MAK making the run and found him and Kaye finished.  It, along with his other play, earned him a MLS Team of the Week inclusion.
• No Shinyashiki in the 18.  This matches up with a report that broke late Friday night that a trade to Charlotte has been agreed on.  The window closes on Wednesday, I'll have more about that if/when it happens.

Man of the Match: Bryan Acosta.  He was asked to step in and run the midfield and did it well.  Not only that he took over corner kicks and set up Lalas perfectly for the called-back goal.  With Price likely being out a few weeks (and hopefully not more than that) he made a good case to moving into that open spot in the starting XI.