Off To The Lou

The Rapids start a busy Independence Day weekend with a trip across the Plains to St. Louis for their first look at the newest expansion city (we, of course, saw the team here in Colorado earlier this season).  Colorado is playing for 2024 (we hope not 2025) while St. Louis is sitting on top of the Western Conference (again, in their inaugural year).  Kickoff by the Arch is at 6:30pm tomorrow.  Centennial 38 has a road trip of their own for this one, with the official watch party up at the Grand Z Casino in Central City.

Availability Report:

OUT: D Moise Bombito (Team Canada), D Alex Gersbach (lower body injury), M Bryan Acosta (Team Honduras), M Max (unavailable)

QUESTIONABLE: M Jonathan Lewis (lower body injury), M Ralph Priso (lower body injury), F Diego Rubio (upper body injury)

Maybe once this season we'll get through a game week without an injury in training, but apparently its not this week as Lewis and Gersbach both popped up on the injury report.  Priso is new as well, but we saw him leave at halftime of the Galaxy game with a knock so that's not a surprise.  Rubio is still only Questionable so I'm guessing we'll see him on the bench, if we're lucky.

There's really only 3-4 questions here.  Who starts next to Cabral, who takes Priso's spot, who plays left back, and goalkeeper.  The first 3 seem fairly obvious given the availability report (though left back could also be Nicholson).  I put Ilic at goalkeeper because his loan is up on Wednesday and I figure they'll take one more look at him before that.  Seems like it would be more likely on the road tomorrow that at home on the 4th.

Prediction: 2-0 loss.  St. Louis has the second best offense in the league, having scored 37 goals to our 14.  Their defense is only slightly better than ours, but against our offense that won't matter much.

Vancouver Home Game Rescheduled For Sept. 27th

The Vancouver home game that was postponed due to the storm last Wednesday has been officially rescheduled for Wednesday Sept. 27th at 7:30pm.  All tickets for the original date will be honored for the new date.  That was our only open date between the September and October international breaks, which means we'll play 6 games in 19 days in that stretch.  Luckily 4 of those 6 are at home and the two road trips are to Portland and Dallas.  Not that it will really matter either way.

Spoon Battle Ended Just As It Should, Scoreless

There's not much to say at this point.  Another game.  Another complete lack of attack, another scoreless match.  Does anyone even remember the last time we scored?  The last time we scored at home?  One sec...

We scored twice in Columbus on May 31st.  We scored twice at home against FSL on May 21st.  We lost both games 3-2.  The last time we scored in a home game we didn't lose was April 23rd!  The only real "highlight" of note was the scoreboard failing to the point where it had to be restarted twice in the second half.

If we can't beat the second worst team at home after a two week break when they were coming off a midweek game, there's essentially no game we can expect to win the rest of the season.

Man of the Match was probably Yarbrough, if you had to pick one.  But at this point the only people who deserve plaudits this year are the fans who keep showing up and tuning in to watch this dreck.  Ted Lasso's 'be a goldfish' only goes so far...

Wooden Spoon 6 Pointer

For those readers who don't know what the Wooden Spoon is, it goes to the team that finishes in last place in the league.  An unofficial award for many years (including when we "won" it in our inaugural year of 1996) it now has an official "trophy" as you see above, created by the Independent Supporters Council.  As of right now there are only 3 MLS teams below 1 point per game.  Miami, at 0.88 PPG, the Galaxy, at 0.82 PPG, and us, at 0.72 PPG.  Miami is of course adding Messi and friends in the next month, so they should be pulling away from the two remaining teams, both of whom happen to be facing off tomorrow night in Commerce City.  The loser of this one will be the favorite for the Wooden Spoon this season (heavy favorite if we lose).  Kickoff is at 7:30 and there are no storms in the forecast!  I don't know if the Rapids are going to try to "redo" their Pride Night from Wednesday night but C38 had planned for both games this week to be Pride Night at the tailgate and in the section.

Availability Report:

OUT: D Lalas Abubakar (red card), D Moise Bombito (Team Canada), M Bryan Acosta (Team Honduras), M Max (unavailable), M Braian Galvan (red card)

QUESTIONABLE: F Diego Rubio (upper body injury)

Rubio was named on the bench for the game that didn't happen on Wednesday, so I assume he'll be in the 18 but not starting.

This is the lineup that was announced on Wednesday night except Bombito was available then and he's gone now.  So I moved Rosenberry into the center, pushed Nicholson to the right, and put Beitashour one the left.  Seems fairly obvious but we'll see.

Prediction: 1-1 draw, goal by Lewis.  We have a better defense, they have a better offense.  I'm not sure either of these teams are going to play well but if I had to pick a winner I might slightly favor us because we're at home.  But in the end I expect we're on track for a meh draw.

Rained Out

In the battle of the two water teams in MLS, the water won.  After a mini-concert of 3 anthems (Lift Every Voice And Sing for Juneteenth, O Canada for the visitors, and the Star-Spangled Banner for the home team) the players were immediately sent back to the locker room due to lightning in the area and we waited, and waited, and waited.  Finally 4+ hours later the Rapids announced the game would be rescheduled.

I only waited an hour, then looking at the radar and getting some updates from the west side of town I decided it was a good idea to get home before risking hail damage to the car.  It didn't seem likely that the game would get played anyway.  Its been a rough 24+ hours for the Denver area, and while I think the Rapids could have handled some things better last night than they did, we only have to look at Red Rocks to see how it could have been worse as well.  I also recognize that some of these decisions were actually in the league's hands and not the Front Office's.  So the only thing I'll say is that its always better to over-communicate than under-communicate.

The Rapids move on to their game against the Galaxy on Saturday (meanwhile the Whitecaps are off to LA to play LAFC the same night).  Galvan's and Abubakar's suspensions will now be served during the Galaxy game, but it gives Rubio more time to recover (he was named as a sub last night).  We'll also likely not have Bombito as he will presumably need to leave to meet up with Team Canada at the Gold Cup.  Acosta was not originally listed as unavailable last night but he had already left for his Honduran National Team callup so he'll be gone as well.

We Go Again

After one game in 17 days and no game last weekend we're back to regular Rapids action with a home game tomorrow night.  Appropriate for the two teams in MLS named after water features thunderstorms are in the forecast for tomorrow night so hopefully we don't get any lightning breaks.  Vancouver is on a 3 game undefeated streak but yesterday was the one-year anniversary of their last road win (@Dallas).  The Rapids, of course, are on a 7 game winless streak.  Kickoff is at the normal 7:30 tomorrow, barring weather.

Availability Report:

OUT: D Lalas Abubakar (red card), D Alex Gersbach (upper body injury), M Max (unavailable), M Braian Galvan (red card)

QUESTIONABLE: F Diego Rubio (upper body injury)

Not great that Rubio is still questionable after this much rest.  He's only played 8 of the 18 games so far this season.  Otherwise the red cards from Orlando hurt but the rest we can deal with.

I'd be surprised if at least 9 of these players weren't in the lineup.  I do think Yarbrough comes back in for Ilic with two games this week (though it could go the other way and Will gets the start against LA).  The rest seem fairly obvious but Nicholson or Cabral could be replaced with Markanich or Lewis.

Prediction: 1-1 draw, goal by Bassett.  The Rapids are going to need to win before I predict a win, but the two games this week at home are their best chance to do that.  A Vancouver team that hasn't won in a year on the road is a great place to pick up points, but in the end I don't think this team pulls it off.

Make Rapids Fun Again

You'll notice I didn't write anything about the Orlando game.  This was mainly because I was out of town visiting family but also because I needed a break.  I still had the game on in the background and saw another typical 2023 Rapids performance, which is to say a Rapids team that looks like a USL team playing in MLS.

At this point the Rapids aren't an enjoyable experience.  There are two ways to make watching a team fun.  One is, obviously, playing well and getting results.  The second is to make attending games and watching games an enjoyable experience regardless of the result.  Currently the Colorado Rapids organization is failing on both fronts.

I don't want to spend too much time talking about the lack of results.  We've done that enough already this season and we'll continue to do that as the season goes on.  Honestly, as a sports fan, you have to expect bad seasons from your teams from time to time, it goes with the territory.  But this is the longest we've gone to start the season without getting to 3 wins.  We're on pace for an all-time low in points.  And this team doesn't even look like one that is young and figuring things out, or one that's trying to implement a new style that's taking longer than expected.  This is a team that's devoid of style, drive, pizzazz, or anything else.  They're out there playing as 11 individual players and are boring to watch.  This isn't just bad soccer, its bad soccer without a purpose.

Off the field the organization isn't much better.  They do themselves no favors by their 'cone of silence' style of communication.  Its hard to stay engaged with a team that actively works to prevent fan engagement.  Then when the fans do show up they can't watch the games due to the parent organization's (KSE) fight with the local TV providers.  That problem was at least fixed with the Apple deal this year, but the choice to let half the connection between the fans and the team (Richard Fleming) walk was a poor choice.  

Meanwhile going to the games at DSG Park becomes an exercise in frustration.  KSE has allowed the stadium to be run down to the point where its a bare bones stadium in this league.  The amenities are minimal, the food options are poor by minor league standards at this point, and the video board is a running joke with more pixels failing every game.  The stadium staff, particularly the security, acts like they don't want fans there.  During the USOC match against FSL I saw staff chase a couple of kids off from standing on the concourse above 109, telling them they had to be behind the line and out of the ADA area.  An ADA area that was totally empty above a section that was maybe 20% full.  There's no need to do that other than somebody wanted to use their power.  There are reports every game of security being overly officious and hassling fans who are there to support the team.

More directly I've had multiple friends in the fanbase essentially walk away from the team this year because they're done putting up with the B.S. from the organization.  These are die-hard fans who have decided that its just not worth their time and money anymore to support this team.  And it had nothing to do with the results on the field (though obviously, those haven't helped).  They were active in the fan community, social media, etc. showing support for the team and now they're not.  The Rapids are horrible at doing that on their own, the last thing they can afford is to alienate the few fans who are willing to do that job for them.

If the games aren't good soccer, if the presentation is bland, and if being at the event in person is more work than its worth, what's the point of being a fan?  What can we expect less dedicated fans to get out of the experience?  Right now this team, from top to bottom, just isn't fun to be a part of.  More so than at any other point in my 25+ years of following this team I find myself asking "why?".  Then you add the news in the last week or two of Miami bringing in Messi, FSL dropping $6M to bring in Arango, and it starts to look like MLS is going to take off like a rocket and the Rapids are going to be left eating the rest of the league's exhaust.  I'll still be here for now, but I don't know for how much longer.

The Rapids need to be fun again.

Rapids Outplay San Jose, Can't Score

So the Rapids had a chance to finally get a win on Saturday night, but their inability to score once again cost them points.

Lets get this out of the way first.  Yes, both of Bombito's yellow cards were soft and I don't think most refs would have given two cards to the same player of those fouls.  No they weren't technically wrong.  Also no, the red card didn't cost us the game.  You know how I know that?  Because even being down a man for 39+ minutes we didn't give up a shot on goal to San Jose, and while down a man we got a PK call that we didn't convert.  That's about as good of a job as you can do at winning the game without actually winning the game.  Bombito being on the field wouldn't change that.

The Rapids have had 3 penalty kicks this season, and 2 of them have been saved Rubio vs. Vancouver and Ronan on Saturday).  Both the saved kicks were somewhat similar, weaker kicks to the keepers left but not far to the left.  Ronan's made PK against Philly we better hit to the keeper's right.  For a team that's only scored 14 goals all season you can't throw away goals and points by not having a confident penalty taker.

Outside of the PK the Rapids got 4 shots on goal, for a total of 0.9 xG.  San Jose had 0 shots on goal but still managed a 0.8 xG.  Cole Bassett did the heavy lifting this week, being the only player (other than Ronan's PK) to put up an xG of 0.1 or better.  Million-dollar Cabral had a 0.0 xG.  What, exactly, is he adding to this team?  The rest of the game was exactly what you would expect from a Rapids game this year.

We're now at the midpoint of the season and we're on track for 26 points and 28 goals.  Only twice has Colorado ever finished under 30 points, in 1996 (where draws weren't possible and the Shootout made everything W/L) they finished with 29 points in 32 games and in 2001 they finished with 23 points.  2001 was shortened by the 9/11 attacks and Colorado only played 26 games that year.  In both cases their PPG would have carried them to 30 points or more in a 34 game year, like 2023 is.  This is the worst first-half the Rapids have ever had (in 2015 we wouldn't get our third win until game 18, but we had 9 draws in the first half putting us at 15 points).  The generous Bodmer Line is now at 1.65 PPG, more realistically its at 1.8 or better.  Only twice (2016 & 2021) have we played a full season above 1.65 PPG, never above 1.8.

If the Front Office wanted to do any sort of damage control this would be the week to do it.  The team is at the halfway point, they have a full week off for the first time in 6 weeks, and any negative news is going to get buried by the Nuggets NBA Finals games.  But we all know that's not the MO of the the club, despite their calls for transparency and accountability in the infamous "Rapids Way" editorial.

Man of the Match: Andres Maxsø. No shots on goal?  Had to be a defender and the Dane had a good game.

One More Unto the Breech

Tomorrow night's match against San Jose is the last one before we finally get a full week of rest, can the Rapids summon up one last bit of reserve and find a win after so many losses?  Its going to be tough against a much healthier Earthquakes side that broke its road winless streak on Wednesday in Seattle.  Kickoff as always is at 7:30 and its looking like it will be wet for this one.  The announcers tomorrow night are Mark Rogondino and Heath Pearce in English and Oscar Salazar and Maximiliano Cordaro in Spanish.

Availability Report:

OUT: GK Abe Rodriguez (lower body injury, formerly ankle), M Max (unavailable), F Darren Yapi (U-20 World Cup), F Diego Rubio (upper body injury, formerly ankle)

QUESTIONABLE: Braian Galvan (lower body injury), M Ralph Priso (lower body injury), F Michael Barrios (lower body injury)

We get Cabral back from suspension but otherwise no change on the availability front.

Again I'm just trying to put a lineup together of 11 players who aren't hurt or unavailable.  Given work load issues I could have 10 or 5 of these guys right come tomorrow night.

Prediction: 1-1 draw goal by Rosenberry.  This feels a bit optimistic but one game does not make San Jose a good road team.  I don't seeing this beat up, tired, demoralized Rapids squad pulling out a win to finish the first half of the season, but they can get a point.

Rapids Now Lead The Chase For The Wooden Spoon

Another night, another loss.  There was some hope early with good work by Nicholson but in the end the Crew had more talent and got the three points.  As expected the inability to possess the ball and be dangerous allowed Columbus to just send wave after wave of attacks at us (17 shots) and eventually we broke, multiple times.

To be fair, Colorado's offense looked better than expected early.  The Crew controlled the game but kept making mistake after mistake to give the Rapids chances and Lewis and Nicholson were there to try to take advantage, but only Sam's early goal actually broke through.  Columbus' center backs were quite poor all night but Colorado once again couldn't convert.  They got a second with the final kick of the game by Bassett, one that will easily be up for Goal of the Week, but it was too little too late.

Now we move on to hosting San Jose, who just got their first road win in almost a year in Seattle last night.  Our Bodmer Line is now higher than our season results every year other than 2016 and 2021.  After the San Jose game we'll be at the midpoint of the season, and anything short of a win means we'll have our lowest point total at the halfway point.  Its just not getting any better.

Man of the Match: Sam Nicholson, not just for the goal but his overall play was better than we've seen in a long time from him.