Do We Have To Pay A Tariff For This Match?

North Cascades National Park, just across the border from Vancouver

Colorado faces a big test tomorrow as they take on conference leaders Vancouver on their home turf.  The whitecaps are coming off a mid-week CCC game and have some injuries, but we shouldn't overlook them as they've been on fire to start the season.  4 wins in the first 6 games while also advancing in CONCACAF play.  The good news is that they have a lot of miles in their legs.  Kickoff tomorrow is at 7:30 Denver time, an hour earlier than you would expect for a West Coast game.

Also there's one bit of roster news today.  The Rapids signed American youth international winger Bryce Jamison from Orange County SC, then immediately loaned him back to Orange County for the rest of the season.  He's signed though 2027 with team options in 2028 and 2029, so this is a long-term project.

Availability Report:

OUT: D Reggie Cannon (Not injury related), D Jackson Travis (hand), M Ted Ku-DiPietro (shoulder), M Connor Ronan (appendix)

The Cannon absence is odd.  Hopefully nothing is wrong in his personal life.  It could also be something with his paperwork given the border crossing, but he was recently playing in England and has been a member of the Nats so you think that all would be sorted.

This is a hopeful lineup but also the lineup that had the great success against Charlotte and Armas has been fairly good about seeing those type of things.  Obviously if he sticks with Cabral and Bassett in the 10 we'll see Mihailovic as the other wing and Larraz in the 8.  Sam Vines is back but I can't see him getting that much time on the turf in BC.

Prediction: 1-1 draw, goal by Mihailovic.  I'm hedging my bets here as it really depends on what kind of lineups both teams put out there.  The lineup I laid out above against a rotated Whitecaps lineup can absolutely win this one.  But the lineup with Cabral against Vancouver's best should be happy to get a draw.  Its a bit of a chess game between the managers this week.

Rapids Shut Down Charlotte In Bounce-Back Win

Colorado put out a great defensive performance and a good second half on offense in a much needed rebound win over Charlotte.  Honestly the first half was a bit of a snooze as neither team could get a good look at goal.  The closest the Rapids got was a swerving long-range shot from Mihailovic right before half that was saved.  After half though the home sider weathered a early flurry from the visitors and then stepped up the pressure with a pair of subs that changed the game.

In the 60th minute Larraz and Cabral were subbed off and replaced with Fernandez and Calvin Harris.  From that point on Colorado had 15 of their 21 shots and 2.93 of their 3.15 of xG.  For the first 15 minutes after the subs it looked like it was going to be one of those days where Charlotte managed to get in front of every good shot we produced but in the 78th minute Mihaiovic found the net.  A Fernandez cross found Djordje in the middle of the box and DM put the ball far post out of the range of the keeper.  We weren't done yet though as 3 minutes later Navarro was dragged down int he box and Djordje stepper up again to finish the penalty for a 2-0 lead and final score.

Fernandez and Harris certainly impacted the game but the bigger change when they came into the game was the resetting of the midfield.  Bassett dropped back into Larraz's spot as the 8 and Mihailovic shifted into the 10 role.  Not surprising, to me at least, there was an instant impact. Both players were more involved in the game and the ball flowed more smoothly through the midfield.  I don't know why Armas wants to keep forcing the Mihailovic/Cabral winger combo but its clear it doesn't work.  Against Vancouver Larraz and Cabral should start on the bench and Harris and Ferandez should start (or possibly KSB).  Once Ku-DiPietro is healthy I expect him to challenge for one of the spots and then maybe Cabral can get another chance.

One other note, on the PK Malanda was given a yellow for a Denial Of An Obvious Goal Scoring Opportunity.  It was a DOGSO and the rules did change a few years ago so most DOGSOs in the box were now yellow cards instead of red cards (the logic being that the PK returns the "obvious" goal scoring opportunity so a red on top of that was harsh).  However the yellow card instead of a red card change had a requirement to it, that it was a yellow card if the DOGSO happened during an attempt to play the ball.  Malanda made no attempt to play the ball, he wasn't even in range to play it, so by the rules that should have been a red card.  However the week before a similar play happened and PRO upheld the giving of only a yellow card which I'm sure was on the mind of the center referee.  For whatever reason yellow seems to be what PRO wants in this scenario.

This weekend the Rapids head north to a white-hot 'Caps team.  it will be a good test of which Rapids are the real ones, the ones we saw against Portland or the ones we saw against Charlotte.

Man of the Match: Djordje Mihailovic.  Obviously.  He was named player of the week by the league.

The Dog Days Of Spring?

 

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Great Smoky Mountains could fit for either Charlotte or Nashville, given that it covers both North Carolina and Tennessee but its the only National Park in North Carolina.  Tomorrow Charlotte comes to the Dick for the second time ever for the rare afternoon game with a 2:30pm kickoff.  Its also Bark at the Park so we'll see some of our canine friends around the stadium.  TV, as always, is through Apple.

Player Availability:

OUT: D Reggie Cannon (Groin), D Jackson Travis (Hand). M Ted Ku-DiPietro (Shoulder), M Connor Ronan (Appendix)

QUESTIONABLE: D Sam Vines (Thigh)

Ronan had his appendix removed earlier this week and will be out 2-3 weeks.  Not good to see Cannon back on the injury list with that groin issue.  All 3 natural left backs are likely to be out because even if Sam is cleared to start he hasn't done anything since early preseason and won't be game ready.

If it were up to me the only midfielder I'd have lined up that way is Atencio.  I'd move Larraz and Cabral to the bench, Bassett back, and Djordje to the center.  Then give two of our other wingers a chance to start.  But that graphic is what I think Armas will do.

Prediction: 2-1 loss, goal by Mihailovic.  After last week I'm not sure we can keep Zaha and friends off the board a couple of times.  Charlotte is averaging 2 goals a game while the Rapid are averaging just over 1.  I think the averages hold tomorrow and we really realize how much work we have to do.

Storm Breaks In Commerce City

 

Do you remember last week in my delayed writeup of the San Jose game when I said:

That said I see storm clouds on the horizon. 

Well, that storm hit on Saturday night.  A 3-0 loss where Portland took advantage of Steffen's absence to show the flaws in this team.  This was a game where the Timbers had more goals than we had shots on goal.

It wasn't like Portland really had to work on their goals either.  The first goal, right before half, was bad luck.  The Rapids had the attack well defended but an ill-timed poke by Atencio resulted in an own goal.  The second goal after half though was an open thoroughfare right down the center of the field.  After Moreno receives the ball at the center point he turns and is looking at a 4 on 4, with all 4 of our defensive line back.  Despite that nobody steps to Moreno and nobody shadows Antony running right down the middle. Its an easy through ball into Antony's pass and a clean hit from outside the 18 goes into the corner.  This one probably gets saved by Steffen but its hard to blame Beaudry when the defense made it so easy.

Then on the third goal was sadly similar.  Fory got the ball out wide on our right.  Maxso slides over but doesn't really pressure the ball in time.  Meanwhile Kelsey splits right between Rosenberry and Awaziem for the easy header to finish.  Two goals, two unpressured passers, two unmarked players right in the center of the field.  Ugly.

Colorado has given up 9 goals this season (including the CCC).  6 of them have been in the last 5 minutes of the first half or the first 5 minutes of the second half.  Throw in the goal given up at home to LAFC to start the season right before the final whistle and it shows an extreme lack of focus around the whistle.  The halves are 45 minutes, not 40.

We were down Steffen for this game, but Steffen doesn't get us shots on goal.  The only other missing parks were Ted Ku-DiPietro and Sam Vines.  I don't think KDP and Sammy are the missing parts here.  The current starters have to get better, and Armas needs to accept that he's not going to turn Bassett into a 10.  Move Djordje back to the 10, put Bassett in the double pivot where he excels, and tell Oli he's going to be our spark off the bench.

Man of the Match: None.  Not because everyone played bad, just because nobody stood out above anyone else.  It was all just meh.

Rapids Try To Go Five For Five

 

Crater Lake National Park

Back home after a two week road trip the Burgundy Boys are looking to extend their record undefeated start to the season to five games.  In their way are the Portland Timbers.  The Oregon Trail gang have struggled to start the season with 4 points and 3 goals in 4 games (though they got screwed out of a last second PK last week that would make the numbers look a bit better).  Both teams have players missing for international duty so we'll see a mix of starters and backups.  Kickoff tomorrow is at the normal 7:30pm.

Availability Report:

OUT: GK Zack Steffen (U.S. National Team), D Jackson Travis (hand), D Sam Vines (thigh), M Wayne Fredrick (Trinidad & Tobago National Team), M Ted Ku-DiPietro (shoulder)

Other than Vines still being injured everything else is as expected.  At this point we have to start wondering about Sam's durability.  I still ove the guy, but his injury track record since he left for Belgium is not good.

With everyone apparently healthy and available other than Steffen the starting XI seems fairly obvious.  The Rapids did call up Rapids 2 keeper Nicolas Hansen on a short-term loan to be the backup for Beaudry tomorrow night.

Prediction: 1-1 draw, goal by Bassett.  I have a feeling without Steffen we're going to be defense-focused tomorrow night which will prevent us from getting many looks.  We finish one we do get but we also continue to struggle to keep the pressure off the keeper and Beaudry allows one.