Career Opportunities

Waimoku Falls, Kipahulu Ditrict, Haleakala National Park

As mentioned I spent last weekend celebrating my 50th birthday and thus no writeups for the Austin game.  I was celebrating in Hawai'i, and with the Earthquakes being the closest MLS team to Hawai'i (yes, closer than the SoCal teams) the combination of those two things made a Hawai'i park the best choice for tomorrow's game.  Waimoku Falls is beautiful and I highly recommend the hike if you're in Hana on Maui.

The Earthquakes big change this offseason was giving another career opportunity to Bruce Arena and it seems to have paid off with two wins over FSL and SKC before a loss to Minnesota last week.  Along with the new coaching staff a couple of old friends in Cristian Arango and Josef Martinez are leading the San Jose attack.  The Rapids will have their work cut out for them on defense and their injury report isn't going to help much.  Kickoff tomorrow is at 8:30pm.

Availability Report:

OUT: D Jackson Travis (hand), D Sam Vines (thigh), M Josh Atencio (groin), M Ted Ku-DiPietro (shoulder), M Connor Ronan (hamstring)

QUESTIONABLE: M Djordje Mihailovic (hamstring)

We're going to have to have a talk about the Rapids training process.  Something's rotten in Commerce City and I don't know if its the staff, facility, or some combination but the injury reports in the early season in recent years have not been acceptable.  Obviously Travis (injured in the frozen CCC match) and KDP (offseason shoulder surgery) are outside their control but the rest?

If Djordje can't go I really don't know what our midfield will look like.  This is as close as I could get to the normal 4-2-3-1 formation.  I wouldn't put it past Armas to give Sam his first career start but I wouldn't be surprised to see a 3-5-2 or 4-3-3 rolled out either.  If Djordje can go then Cole slips back to his normal spot.

Prediction: 1-1 draw, goal by Navarro.  If we were healthy I think we could beat San Jose, but we're not.  Too many questions in midfield to expect anything more than a draw.  Navarro is hot and he keeps that roll going but a lack of possession leads to the defense giving up one as well.