Sorry for the delay on the recap. Yesterday...was rough. Anyway this isn't going to be much better. We'll recap the game but follow that with some good news.
On Saturday night the Rapids went into LA hoping to prove they could play with the best in the league. What they proved is that they aren't there yet. Much like the FC Cincinnati game earlier this season the Rapids were clearly the second best team on the field. Unlike last season however, the difference wasn't so great that we looked like we belonged in a lower league. Until Cabral did something stupid (more on that later) it was clear LAFC was better but Colorado could surprise them and steal a point. So that's still improvement, even if we're not where we hoped we would be.
The first goal for LA was a case of them being faster than us and beating our press. The black and gold were bringing the ball upfield and the Rapids had things pretty organized. But a through ball was pushed down our left side and Bouanga just flat out beat Sam Vines. He crossed it over to Bogusz who beat Rosenberry. Simple play of 3 attackers ahead of the ball on 4 defenders but both wingers torched our outside backs.
The real problem came from Cabral being an idiot. In the 3rd minute he went in with a dangerous tackle that was borderline red. He got away with a yellow but he was playing on the edge all game. Early in the 2nd half it appears Armas had enough and was getting ready to sub him, but in the 62nd minute before that happened Cabral pulled an LA attacker back who was breaking and picked up his second yellow.
This was the first time all season we were down a man, and it kind of showed. On both of LAFC's subsequent goals they found space when the Rapids defense failed to pass off their men defensively. On the first goal after the card LA had overloaded our right side and Ronan came over to assist. But Rosenberry stayed on the player closer to Ronan, which means one of the central defenders should have dropped back to take the deeper man. Instead with Ronan out of position he opened up space that LAFC played into for Bogusz to get his second.
On the fina goal to complete Bogusz's hat-trick he just kind of ran through our defense and received a pass. Edwards, Bassett, and Larraz all had him for a second or two but they all seemed like they were passing him off to a teammate but there was no coordination in it.
The good news is that on either side of halftime we had some good control and were dangerous at times. We probably should have gotten a goal. If we had managed to squeak one past the keeper and if Cabral hadn't gotten a red card you could see a scenario where we can play stingy defense and take our first point out of the Bank. Instead it 0-6 being outscored 17-2.
On the good news front yesterday Keegan Rosenberry was selected for the All-Star game by All-Star coach Wilfred Nancy of the Crew. Its his second All-Star selection after being selected his rookie year for the Union. Its the Rapids first All-Star since Tim Howard in 2017. I was a little surprised at the choice because IMO this hasn't been Keegan's strongest year but I think like Drew Moor in 2015 this is about recognizing his quality play over a number of years, not just this season.
I also thought guys like Cole Bassett or Djordje Mihailovic would be candidates but neither of them were selected. In the latter's case (and possibly the former's) that might be because of the news that broke this afternoon that as of right now Mihailovic is expected to be one of the three overage players named to the Olympic soccer team, along with Nashville's Walker Zimmerman. The Olympics start in Paris the weekend after the mid-week All-Star Game so he may not be in consideration for the ASG because of that. Bassett is also hoping to make the Olympic team and would then also not be available for the ASG, but his inclusion seems more tenuous right now. FIFA does not require players to be released for the Olympics and it sounds like the USSF is struggling to get everyone they want, so his selection may be dependent on how many players in front of him aren't released.
If one or both of Djordje and Cole are selected the Games start July 27th. The last league match before Leagues Cup is on July 20th, and its the final Rocky Mountain Cup game. Depending on when the Olympic team gets together any selected players may not be available for that one. While I am fully supportive of them going to the Olympics it would be great if the team could arrange for them to fly out that night after we win back the Rocky Mountain Cup. :D
Man of the Match; Djordje Mihailovic. This is more of a "well nobody (other than Cabral) played poorly, but nobody really stood out that much either" pick. When we were dangerous Djordje seemed to be in the middle of things so that's what I went with.
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