USOC Omission and Padraig Smith interview

Game preview later tonight (or maybe in the morning).  First I had an omission in my Open Cup results last night.  The Colorado Rush also played in the USOC Wednesday and lost to FC Tucson 3-1.  That's why Tucson is travelling to the Springs to play the Switchbacks in the next round.

Now, on to the first real response from the Rapids to the FourFourTwo article, the C38 letter, and the general poor results from the team.  On the official Rapids podcast Richard Fleming interviewed Sporting Director Padraig Smith.  The 12 minute interview is from about 16:30 to 28:30 of the podcast and there's a rough written transcription here.  I urge every to listen to it if you can but at least read the transcript.  Here's my reaction though:

• Short-term we're going to see more of the same. Smith says its about having a more attacking mentality. Which is the same line we've been hearing for years. So I don't expect our attack to change before July.
• Once again the excuse of the transfer window not lining up with Europe comes out. Yet most other MLS teams managed to improve in the offseason. Also, news flash to the FO, there's a lot of the world not on the European schedule. Maybe look their for players if Europe isn't working out?
• He thinks we can make the playoffs with the summer additions. The team is going to have to play a lot better in the next 10 games before those additions for that to happen.
• He completely ducked the question about the high turnover in the assistant coach position (Metgod, Spencer, Casey).  I think that's a fair question for fans to wonder about.
• He also spun the question about how the Rapids always start the preseason late leading to starting the season behind.  I'd be annoyed by that but that issue predates even Paul Bravo, much less Smith.  Its institutional inertia at this point.
• He was up front that they're hiding/being circumspect about injuries. Fine, I don't agree, but now we know "officially" that the injury report is largely useless.

I was actually happy to hear him come on and I thought Fleming asked great questions. I can't think of a major question he left out other than why Paul Bravo left (which he was never going to ask).  Smith's answers are still all talk though and their actions have yet to back up their talk. Until that happens I don't see the fan's opinions changing.

News and Notes, May 11, 2017

A couple of odds and ends from around Colorado soccer.

• Most importantly, the home game against Portland on Sunday June 18th has been moved to Saturday June 17th, still at 7:30pm.  Originally this game was scheduled to be broadcast nationally on FS1, it will no be shown locally on Altitude.  I'm assuming FOX told the league they weren't interested in televising a game from a likely half-empty stadium featuring the wooden spoon leaders.
• Rapids draft pick Jaime Siaj made his first appearance with the Charlotte Independence tonight.  here's been no word that he signed with the Rapids so I assume this is not a loan and the Rapids suggested he sign with Charlotte with the hope he can eventually move up to MLS.
• Azteca FC lost their first round Open Cup match to FC Wichita last night 1-0.  They had a player red carded in the 12th minute and still forced extra time after the first 90 finished scoreless.  In the 105th minute Wichita finally broke through for the only goal, and Azteca went down a second man shortly after the break.  That leaves just the Rapids and Switchbacks left in the Open Cup from the state of Colorado.  Colorado Springs will host FC Tucson in Round 2 while the Rapids wait to see who they'll play in their first game in Round 4.

When All Else Fails, Change Nothing

From Thursday:

This will be a dour game between the two teams with the least amount of shots on goal this season.  In the end Vancouver has better players and will get a 1-0 win.

Which is exactly what happened.  After 5 losses and 3 straight shutouts though the Rapids decided to stand pat as the transfer window closed today.  They apparently believe that we have the talent we need to compete for the next 2 months before the secondary window opens.  Padraig Smith talked to the Denver Post about the decision:

“We’re not going to do anything,” Smith said of the transfer window, which closes Monday night. “We had a couple of discussions last week and over the weekend with a number of clubs, but nothing ended up working out in a way that we wanted. One of the challenges of this transfer window is that it closes while a lot of leagues are still playing. Teams aren’t quite ready to let players go, players aren’t quite out of contract.”

Smith is right...about the end of the window.  Of course the beginning of the window is in February and players can leave their clubs and join the Rapids in preseason training in January (they just can't play in a competitive match until the window opens). That's also when windows for most teams are open, which gives them a chance to sign a replacement.  That's why most MLS teams make their moves in the offseason, but the Rapids decided to just sign Boateng and call it good.  So its somewhat misleading to claim no that we can't find any teams to agree to the moves we need, since we wasted the prior 2 months of the window.

“We’ve seen a lot of games recently and a number of players we were watching repeatedly, but it’s just a challenge with those teams still playing and still competitive in their leagues,” Smith said. “A lot of this is geared toward making sure we’ve seen players multiple times before we make any move in July.”

You know, like trading for Josh Gatt,  Who had 0 games in 2017 before the trade, 6 in 2016, 1 in 2015 and 0 in 2014.  All due to his injury history.

“Everybody is very frustrated here, because at the end of the day, we’re here to win and that’s the most important thing,” he said. “We do see some positive things on the field in terms of how we move the ball, how quickly we’re moving it, the spaces and the positions the players are taking. Our ability to retain the ball and drive forward is better than it’s been in the past. But at the end of the day, we need to finish. We need to take the chances we’re creating. We need to score more goals. It is difficult to sleep, but we know the direction we’re going, we know how we want to get there. The key thing now is executing on that strategy.” 

The results of that strategy have gotten worse since the big trade.  We earned 4 points, scored 3 goals, and conceded 3 in the 3 games before the trade.  We've gotten 0 points, scored 2 goals, and conceded 9 in the 5 games since the trade (small sample size caveats apply).  We aren't close to executing on this new attacking strategy and from observing the game on the field it appears the players don't even know what the strategy is.

But, the Rapids brain trust has spoken.  We're going with what we've got for the next 10 games.  At the end of it we'll be just past the midpoint of the season.  To be on pace for the playoffs we need 20 points in those 10 games, which is ahead of the best pace we were on last year....

Colorado-Vancouver Game Prediction

With no response from the Rapids from the events of the last week (FourFourTwo article, another loss, C38 letter) outside of an off the cuff interview from Pablo on a local radio station I'm not really feeling the desire to spend a lot of time on a game preview for this team.

This will be a dour game between the two teams with the least amount of shots on goal this season.  In the end Vancouver has better players and will get a 1-0 win.

Centennial 38's Thoughts On The Direction Of The Rapids

Copying this from the C38 Facebook feed.  I fully support this statement:

Centennial 38 would like to publicly express its concern and disappointment over the direction the Colorado Rapids has been taking over the last six months. Coming off of a historically successful 2016 season, supporters were buzzing with excitement. Everyone was looking forward to 2017 and how the team could be refined, improved, and be a legitimate contender for trophies.

However, the trajectory of the club appears to have strayed far from the course it charted last year. We understand that bad results happen and the team can't win every time, but the poor performance of the team is not the only concern. The results themselves are part of a broader series of troubling events. These other events specifically include:

1) Minimal player acquisitions and a general lack of overall activity during the offseason, especially if rebuilding is the actual plan for 2017.

2) The unbalanced trade that sent Sam Cronin and Marc Burch to Minnesota in exchange for unproven prospects and vague promises of future acquisitions.

3) Comments by Pablo Mastroeni in an April 28th article published by FourFourTwo magazine, in which he effectively stated the 2017 season is being sacrificed for 2018.

The third item is particularly concerning; because it gives supporters the impression that being competitive in 2017 is not important to the club.

Centennial 38, as the single largest group of organized season ticket holders, believes that the entire Rapids fan base is owed an explanation for the club's current direction. We believe it is unfair to increase ticket prices, based in large part on the success of 2016, and then seemingly scuttle that team under yet another premise of rebuilding. In addition it is unfair to the players wearing the badge, and to the fans who have stuck with this club through more lows than highs, to announce that this season isn't important less than two months into the campaign.

We would like to emphasize to everyone: our members, the Rapids staff, the players, the press, and the greater Colorado soccer fan base as a whole, that there is a very important distinction to be made between being critical of the club itself, and being critical of the people that run it. Players, coaches, management, and even ownership all come and go. In the end the only thing that remains is the identity of the club, and the community that surrounds it.

We encourage everyone to continue to wear the colors of the club proudly, and to show their true passion for the Rapids and the beautiful game. Without supporters, soccer is nothing.

Respectfully Submitted,
Centennial 38