Rapids Playing Somewhere In NYC On Sunday

The nickname given to NYCFC has been the Pigeons, some fans love it, some hate it.  They should really be the Wanderers though as they seem to play at whatever field will host them.  This week they're hosting the Rapids at the other baseball stadium, Citi Field, on Sunday afternoon.  Kickoff is an odd 2pm.  For whatever reason the Rapids haven't released an injury report this week, all we have to go on is Burgundy Wave's reporting from the open practice on Friday:

- Connor Ronan is back in full side team drills. Probably still 1-2 weeks out. But progress. Jasper Löffelsend back too. 

- Lewis and Chacon working together, not with full team. 

No comments about Abubakar and Vines, both of whom were Questionable last week, so I assume they're good to go (Vines started last week).  Beaudry is also back from his training stint in North London. 

I'm not expecting any changes from Armas this week.  Maybe he mixes up the wingers but that's it.

Prediction: 1-1 draw, goal by Bassett.  NYCFC has a worse offense and a better defense than us.  So I'm thinking these two teams are fairly balanced.  The wild card is the weird field in NYC.  I think that the teams largely bounce off each other and end up level.

Belated Review Of Rapids Being Shown Their Spot In the League

Sorry for the delay on this recap, rough couple of days here but moving in the right direction.  Much the same can be said about the Rapids this week, a rough game in Cincinnati (and a rough trip home) but overall the team is moving in the right direction.  In my preview I predicted a 1 goal loss (admittedly I said 1-0 and not 2-1) and that FCC would clearly be the better team but the Rapids wouldn't be played off the field, and that's essentially what happened.

On both of Cinci's goals they pulled an our defense apart and made passes that the Rapids are unable to accomplish with any regularity.  On the first Bassett failed to notice that the home side overloaded our right side and there were four attackers being covered by Bombito, Rosenberry, and Larraz.  The imbalance led to Bombito being forced to decide to step up to pressure the ball or stick with his man.  He chose to step up and the attacker released the ball behind him to the now unmarked attacker.

On the second goal Bombito needed to have a bit more trust in his teammates.  Larraz was beat but was close enough to still hassle the man with the ball but Bombito stepped up to help and again the attacker beat him with a pass.  Now a lot of MLS teams wouldn't be able to pull off those passes, but when you have a top 10 (top 5?) player like Acosta pulling the strings you're going to get burned.

I know I called Bombito out a lot there, but he wasn't as bad as he sounded.  On the first goal he was left stranded with no good decision.  On the second he did make a mistake but he owned up to it post-game, and again he got very little help.  He also made up for it by scoring a nice header to get back into the match.

In the end though, what really bit us is that we had 2, just 2, shots on goal.  Once again our inability to turn possession, even good attacking possession, into actual shots is our Achilles heel.

Up And Down The Dial

We're living on the air in Cincinnati

The Rapids face their biggest test, maybe of this season, tomorrow night as they're off to the land of flying turkeys facing off against the defending Shield holders.  This might be a tougher game than the trip to Miami, given that FCC is a better overall team even if they don't have the high-end talent of the GOAT.  We're also a little beat up, with 6 players on the injury report compared to 1 for Cinci.  Kickoff tomorrow is at 5:30 and we're once again stuck with the Rogondino and Pearce as the announcing duo.  Oh for the days of Fleming and Balboa...

Player Availability:

OUT: GK Adam Beaudry (Arsenal training), M Jonathan Lewis (knee), M Connor Ronan (knee), M Jasper Löffelsend (knee)

QUESTIONABLE: D Lalas Abubakar (hamstring), D Sam Vines (concussion)

Hard to believe Vines would be Questionable if he was still in concussion protocol so I assume that means he's cleared to play but since he didn't practice some or all of the week they're not sure if he's ready to start.  Not great seeing Löffelsend out again after having just come back from injury.

If its not broke...  I don't expect any changes other that the one forced by Vines' injury.  If he can go then Rosenberry goes back to his normal spot on the right.

Prediction: 1-0 loss.  Cinci has the best defense in the league and we can't rely on own goals and penalty kicks forever.  I think this is where our never say die attitude comes up short due to our never shoot the ball attitude.  We're not going to get played off the field like we did in Portland, but we will be the lesser team.

Goalkeeper Shuffle

Earlier this week there were reports that Rapids goalkeeper Adam Beaudry had been offered an opportunity to train with Arsenal later this month.  With Rapids 2 off until May 3rd there wasn't going to be much playing time for him in the near future.  Before everyone gets excited (like one Arsenal blog I saw) this isn't expected to be a precursor to an immediate move, but I'm sure part of the reason the training was offered was for the London-side to get an up close look at him as somebody they will keep an eye on in the near future.

Of course, along with starting for Rapids 2 Beaudry is also Steffen's backup for the first team and if he's in London that leaves us a keeper short.  Colorado solved that today by announcing that Rapids 2 backup Ethan Bandré has been signed to a first-team contract for the 2024 season with team options for 2025 and 2026.   Bandré  has been with Sporting KC 2 the last two years before moving to the Rapids 2 side this past offseason.

The Rapids could have solved their bench shortage with a short-term callup of Bandré for the next couple of weeks while Beaudry is in the UK.  The fact that they decided to go with a full-signing suggests that they expect to need his services beyond the next couple of weeks.  That could be because Beaudry will get more chances to train in Arsenal, chances with the youth national teams that will cause him to miss games, or that they think Steffen will get a shot with the National Team at some point this summer, which will push Beaudry to the starter role and they'll need Bandré as the backup then.

Bandré is expected to be on the bench in Cincinnati this weekend while Beaudry heads over the pond.

Shades Of MLS Cup 2010 In Rapids Win

On Friday I predicted:

2-1 win, goals by Navarro and Mihailović.  It worked in Toronto, we should be the better team, so why not see it working again tomorrow night?

IN the end my homage to MLS Cup proved to be more accurate than I expected.  The main difference is that Colorado never trailed, but they did get the win due to an own goal (or two).  Not that they didn't deserve it.  Colorado outplayed Dallas for the majority of the match and it was only a few nervy moments in stoppage time when it felt like Dallas might get a point.

• Another similarity to MLS Cup 2010, it was damn cold.  Its not a Rapids season though unless we have at least one freezing or lower game in the spring.
• Kevin Cabral. Kevin Cabral! If the man could hit the broadside of a barn he'd be in the golden boot race.  He had 3 chances in the first half that a quality striker scores 2.5 of them (the header was a bit difficult, especially on a cold night when the ball feels like a rock).  He's actually looking better this season, more engaged, but if you can't score that's a problem.
• The first own goal was an eerily close mirror image of the winning goal from MLS Cup.  A cross from the end-line deflects off a center-back's thigh and beats the keeper covering the other post.  Nice job by Bassett playing the Mac Kandji role.
• After half the second own goal was originally ruled an own goal, and then credited to Harris.  Technically that's probably correct, since Harris' shot was on target, but it really was an own goal.  Dallas' keeper saved the shot but the rebound went off a Dallas defender and into the goal.
• It wasn't clear in the stadium but Sam Vines was subbed out due to concussion symptoms.  Armas said they were light after the game so here's hoping he recovers quickly.
• If Sam isn't back quickly we don't have an immediate plug-and-play option.  On Saturday Seb Anderson came in at right back and Rosenberry switched to the left side.  One thought that was suggested was trying Cabral at left back.  It takes the pressure of scoring off of him while, in Armas' system, still allowing him to feed the attack.  I wouldn't try it first against FCC this weekend, but its an interesting idea.
• This game was screaming for a defensive midfield presence from about the 60th minute on, yet Löffelsend and Diack didn't come in until the 87th minute.  That tells me that, for whatever reason, Diack isn't fitting into Armas' plans.  We should release him as soon as we're able and use those resources somewhere else.
• Bombito is a beast.  Assuming he stays healthy and continues his improvement I don't see how he's still in Colorado by the start of the 2026 season.
• This team can't figure out how to score reliably, but they have figured out how to win reliably, somehow.  You have to like the fight in this squad.  I'm not sure how long w can keep the juggling act up without fixing the offense, but a big test is Saturday against FC Cincinnati.

Man of the Match: Cole Bassett.  Forced the first goal, was active all night, and set a new club record for homegrown appearances.  As many of us have said, he's better as an 8 than a 10.