A Tradition Unlike Any Other

The now annual late spring/early summer Rapids tradition of a lightning delay returned on Saturday.  6+ minutes into the game the sky flashed and we all sat and waited for 100 minutes before everyone came out to play the other 83 minutes.  You never know how a team will react to a delay like that, we've seen some Rapids teams come out flat after a long delay.  On Saturday the team seemed unaffected by the long layoff and came out and played their game.

That was helped by a St. Louis team that seemed to be playing for a 0-0 draw or winning with a stolen counter-attack goal from the opening whistle.  They had two tightly spaced lines with a single striker roaming up front and for the most part they seemed happy to let the home side have possession.  That said, the first real big chance came in the 36th minute where a horrible misplay by Murphy left Toikirk off and running with only Hansen to beat.  Hansen, however, was up to the challenge and stoned the At. Louis attacker.  Steffen couldn't have done any better.  The slick field helped prevent an easy rebound goal.

5 minutes later Yapi made the visitors pay for not taking their chance.  A cross in from Ku-DiPietro found the homegrown striker.  After a little bit of pinball Yapi settled the ball, turned, and shot.  It took a deflection and beat Burki for the 1-0 lead.  Yeah it wasn't pretty but its the type of shots we've been missing this season.  Too often we're looking for the extra pass or the perfect shot and sometimes you just need to put the ball on net and see what happens.

In the second half Hansen had to make a big save right after the break to keep the score level.  Other than that St. Louis had one other good look when Maxso had his ankles broken and left a wide open opportunity, but it was put over the bar.  Meanwhile bot Yapi and KDP forced good saves out of Burki.  In the end a 1-0 finish was an accurate representation of the game.

The starting lineup had a couple of new faces.  Sam Bassett subbed in for his missing brother and KDP took Cabral's spot in the XI.  IT worked fairly well.  Clearly Cole is better than Sam but Sam handled himself well and Ted should be a regular starter.  It makes you wonder if Cabral's time as a starter is finally done when a rookie homegrown gets the nod over him.  Mihailovic wasn't his normal self in the game, though he was still great, after the game Armas said that he was battling illness.  There's a suggestion that might be what kept Awaziem out too.

Quick turn around for a trip to Portland on Wednesday, but then due to the Club World Cup playoff between LAFC and Club America we get 10 days off until Austin comes to town.  Both green teams are in the muddled middle of the West with Colorado, so its a good chance to make a move over these two games.

Man of the Match: Darren Yapi.  Not just for the goal but also because he was creating dangerous chances all night.  For the first time it feel like he's settling in as a solid backup/second striker.

Next Man Up?

Rocky Mountain National Park

St. Louis is in town for the second half of our season home-and-home matchup tomorrow night.  We might be facing our first weather delay of the season as wind, rain, and hail are potentially in the forecast for the Denver metro area on Saturday.  Yep, its that time of year.  The bigger issue is our list of absences is going to require some bench players to step up big tomorrow, especially with a second game in Portland on Wednesday.  Kickoff tomorrow is, hopefully, at 7:30pm.

Availability Report:

OUT: GK Zack Steffen (oblique), Chidozie Awaziem (non-injury), M Cole Bassett (ankle), M Ali Fadal (knee), F Rafael Navarro (ankle)

That's...very not good.  Arguably 4 of our best 5 players are missing.  No word as to what the non-injury issue is with Awaziem, hopefully everything is ok.  The silver lining is that he's one yellow from suspension so we know he won't be suspended for Wednesday's game if he's back.  Otherwise a lot of long-lasting injuries in Steffen, Fadal, and Navarro.  You have to wonder if the team needs more investment in their training and fitness staff and facilities.

As much as possible I think Armas will stick with what worked against FSL.  I think/hope he'll start Ted KDP.  The offense was noticeably better against FSL when he subbed in and he should start tomorrow.  The outside backs are a bit of a guess, it may come down to fitness and what kind of rotation the manager wants to use against Portland.

Prediction: 2-1 win, goals by Mihailovic and Cannon.  St. Louis is not a good team and their manager's seat is blistering hot.  I think even with the missing players the Rapids have enough to take the 3 points at home and quite possibly force a coaching change for City.  It would be disappointing to get anything less than a draw, even with our availability issues.

Chess Vs. Checkers

The Centennial 38 tifo on Saturday was Armas beating Pablo in a chess match played on the chessboard that is FSL's kit.  We didn't know that it would be a fairly accurate portrayal of the match.  We saw the 4-2-3-1 return with Mihailovic in the middle flanked by Cole and Cabral, and as expected Yapi up front.  While the first half was largely uneventful the Rapids best chance of the game (by xG) happened in the first 10 minutes as Larraz had a great shot saved.

In the second half things picked up, largely due to Armas' subs working better than Pablo's.  In the 58th minute Pablo swapped three players including pulling Diego Luna, the only player on FSL who's scored more than one goal this season.  At that point I started feeling better about our chance to get at least a point out of the game as it seemed unlikely FSL would score.  Three minutes later Armas sent Ted KDP on for Kevin Cabral and our offense got significantly better.

In the 70th minute Cannon, KDP, and Mihailovic overloaded FSL's left side to force pressure into the box.  This allowed Bassett to streak in and pick the pocked of a FSL defender on the edge of a goal area.  He was able to play a shot pass to Djordje who switched it to his right foot and put it far post for the lead.  Notably 5 minutes after the goal Pablo subbed in two strikers after seeing that his park the bus gambit did not work at all.

Both sides had one good look in stoppage time.  Right at the start of extra time Barea got Salt Lake's best look of the night (and by xG the best look of the game by either side) but put the shot wide.  Then 3 minutes alter Sam Bassett and Calvin Harris had a great break into the box but the defense got just enough in the way that Harris had to slow up his run before he ran offside just as Sam played the ball through for what would have been a one on one with the keeper from inside the 18.  If Harris had continued his run knowing Sam could get the pass off through the defense he would have still be onside.  Other than that last minute shot every other shot by FSL had less than a 0.1 xG, while every shot by Colorado had move than a 0.1 xG.  FSL had twice the shots but the Rapids had better shots.

This was a much needed "get right" game, and with another suffering team in St. Louis coming to down we've got a chance to get back up off the mat after that 5 game winless streak.  Especially now that due to LAFC's playoff with Club America on the 31st our 3 game week next week is now just a 2 game week so rotation won't be as necessary.  The LAFC game has been moved to early July (turning that into a 3 game week).  And to win a rivalry game, one where they've taken advantage of us far too often, without two of our three best players (Steffen, Navarro) is a good morale booster for the locker room.

Speaking of the rivalry, the Rapids take 3 points into the second Rocky Mountain Cup game of the season, which will be our last road game of the year.  In order to win the Cup FSL now has to win that match by at least 2, since a 1-0 win would go to the tiebreaker of "whoever has the Cup keeps it", and that's us for once.  Plus by that point in the season who knows what they might be playing for (or what me might be playing for).  The last time Salt Lake went into the final game of the RMC behind the 8-ball needing a result was 2016 where they had to win, a draw or a loss would have given the Cup to Colorado (of course they did).  The last time they came into a game needing a multigoal win was the prior year where they needed a two goal win (thank you Juan Ramirez) and didn't get it.

Man of the Match: Nico Hansen.  Get the call as the third string keeper that you're starting in a rivalry match and put up a shutout without ever really putting a foot wrong?  That's MOTM material.  Interesting that he's apparently moved past Beaudry on the depth chart.  Now that Beaudry is back from injury it will be interesting to see who gets the nod to be Steffen's backup on the bench.

Get. It. Done.

 

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Tomorrow is simple.  Get the three points, take the lead in the Rocky Mountain Cup, stabilize the season.  Anything less and we're looking up from the bottom of a deep hole.  We're going to have to do it without one of our top guys, but FSL is suffering too.  No excuses.  Kickoff tomorrow is at 7:30 and the first team game will be followed by the Unified Team taking on their counterparts from Salt Lake as well, with their Rocky Mountain Cup on the line.  The Unifed Team are two-time winners of the RMC and they go for the hat-trick (they only face each other once a season).

Availability Report:

OUT: M Ali Fadal (knee); F Rafael Navarro (ankle)

QUESTIONABLE: GK Zack Steffen

Do not like.  Apparently Steffen is likely to be available but I still don't like the question mark.  And not having Navarro could be crippling.  On the plus side FSL has 3 players out and 4 questionable, though only two of them have had significant minutes this season.

Yeah, I don't like this one much either.  I have to hope Armas realizes things aren't working and goes back to what did work, the 4-2-3-1 with Djordje in the middle and Bassett sitting in the hole behind him.  I picked Larraz over Atencio as I find them fairly equal right now so play the homegrown that understands the rivalry over the new guy.  The wingers are a pick-em.  I'm not sure we have good choices but this seems like the best options.

The key to this one is getting a midfield back and keeping Luna under control.  Awaziem and Maxso have to know where he is at all times, and the midfield cant' let FSL tee off on our goal.  Whatever we get out of Yapi up top is a bonus.

Prediction: 2-1 loss, goal by Mihailovic.  FSL breaks our hearts with a late goal to win, again.  Given our run of form and Navarro being out I just don't see where we get points in this one.  Hopefully they can prove me wrong but I'm not getting my hopes up.

Rapids In A Tailspin

Colorado currently looks like a team without a plan, especially in midfield.  This was very evident in last night's game as, outside of individual efforts from Djordje Mihailovic, the Rapids had nothing to combat San Diego and their press.  When the new guys scored to take the lead in the first half it was on their 14th shot.  Colorado had 1 at that point.  It didn't get much better from there.  By the second half subs it felt like Armas was just throwing things a the wall to see if something stuck.

We go into the Rocky Mountain Cup on a 5 game winless streak and 1 win in the last 7.  We've been outscored 13-7 in that time and notably Seattle is the only team we've held to a single goal.  ITs hard not to think that Saturday's game is a turning point in our season.  A win and we stabilize things, get turned around, and can move forward.  A loss and FSL passes us in the standings and we're looking at a long climb to get back into things or another lost season.  A draw isn't much better than that except it keeps FSL behind us.

Really Armas needs to figure out a set midfield that puts our best players in the best position to succeed.  I think that's Mihailovic in the middle and Bassett behind him.  If that means Atencio or Larraz goes to the bench, fine.  Then figure out our best wingers (we spent a bunch on KDP, start him) and hope they can help.  This  assumes Navarro is back, if we have to start Yapi or Cabral up front I don't feel like there's much hope.

Man of the Match: Djordje Mihailovic.  We had 5 shots on goal, Djordje had 4 of them.  Yeah he had a meh PK that was saved but he was the only one creating anything out there.  Only Larraz, Cabral, and Bassett even registered an xG total outside of Mihailovic, and they were all 0.2 or less.