Quarterfinals

Well this is new.  This happens to be the 2700th entry in this blog and its the first time we're talking about a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal.  The last time the Rapids made it this far was August of 2007, about 6 months before I opened this place up (USL Seattle slaughtered us 5-0 up in the PacNW).  It took a long time to get back here but this time we get to host. Kickoff tomorrow is at 8pm and remember extra-time and PKs are possible late tomorrow night.

That's the upside.  The downside is that we host red-hot San Jose.  Well, they were red-hot when they win their Round of 16 match and were drawn against us, having won all their USOC games and 9 of their first 10 league matches  They then drew their next two games and have lost their last two after that.  This has roughly coincided with an injury to star striker Timo Werner.  He was OUT for their game on Saturday and the word is that he was expected back in late-May but the 'Quakes are being cautious about rushing him back.  That suggests he won't start tomorrow but might be available off the bench?

There's no update for the Rapids on the injury front but I think its a safe bet Steffen is still out and we know KDP is.  Harris was out on Saturday due to illness so hopefully he'll be available.  If so then, barring any injury in training, Steffen and KDP should be the extend of the injury report.  Kosi Thompson will be suspended after his red card against the Switchbacks however.

So the starting XI will really come down to who's rested and who isn't.  I expect Wells to try to get one more game out of Rafa's legs, and Aaronson has been rotated a bit.  Yapi and holding didn't start in Sandy so I'd expect them in, and Herrington is young and we'll probably try to get 90 more minutes out of his legs.  Hansen in net.  The other 5 though?  Anyone's guess.

The winner tomorrow will move to the semifinal in September to face St. Louis, who just beat Houston in penalty kicks.  If its the Rapids they will host the semifinal.  If its the Earthquakes they'll travel to Missouri.  The winner of the semifinal will travel to the winner of Orlando at tomorrow's Columbus-NYCFC match for the final in October.

As always, no prediction for a USOC game.  Its just too hard to tell what the focus will be.  Though that will change should we win as the semifinal and any potential final are clearly going to be a top priority.

The More Things Change...

I was planning to go into a typical writeup of the Rapids once again failing in Sandy, something the doesn't seem to change no matter how many times we change coaches or players.  However Matt Doyle summed it up nicely in his weekly recap column ay TacticsFreeZone.  Side note, go give Matt a subscription, he's doing the best job covering every team every week out there.

A couple of things I’ve been thinking about since Matchday 2 for the Colorado Rapids:

1. They have a lot of guys who, uh, let’s just say “aren’t great passers of the ball.” But they are committed to building from the back. How’s that going to work for the long term?
2. Head coach Matt Wells is very committed to not only building from the back, but to playing ultra-physical, fast and furious, high-pressing soccer. Is there going to be 1) buy-in, and 2) attrition?

He's right, on both counts.  He goes on to point out that Jackson Travis casually passing back and losing the ball led directly to FSL's first goal and the like of energy and press played a large part in FSL's second goal.  The positive side of things is that he believes (and I agree) that there has been buy-in from the roster on Wells' system so its not a desire problem, its a talent one.

Looking at those two goals, on the first Travis is just too casual with his backpass and it gets deflected and at that point everyone is out of position and scrambling.  Really, at this point, Travis shouldn't be starting.  Wells made the decision to go with a Herrington-Navarro centerback pairing and it cost us this goal.  Navarro had a solid game so maybe it was overall the best decision but it did result in FSL levelling the match.

On the second there's just too much open space.  Nobody closes down Sanabria, Aaronson is working his way over there, and he has plenty of time to whip in the cross.  Solans just finds a big space between Herrington and Holding to head it home.  Herrington was on him, then slides over towards Sanabria and Holding doesn't slide as fast leaving a big hole for Solans to sit in.

It wasn't all bad.  We started hot with a quick goal.  A Ronan corner was trapped by Aaronson and pushed back in front of goal where Fredrick hammered it home.  The problem is that after that 7th minute goal there were only two more shots on target, the rest of the game, and none after falling behind.  In fact the Rapids only have 1 goal in the final 30 minutes of a league match this season when trailing (Yapi's 62nd minute goal to level the Miami game at 2).

Part of this is because FSL completely took Rafa out of the game.  He only had 3 touches in the box and 1 shot on target.  Hard to get very far in attack when your MVP is not in the game.  My hope is that this was just a really good defensive effort and not an indication that we've pushed Navarro to hard.  We need one more game out of him on Wednesday.

The good news is that by keeping it to a one goal loss (as I predicted) then the Rapids just have to win the home game in August, by any score, to keep the Rocky Mountain Cup.  If we can't beat FSL at home then we don't deserve to keep the Cup.

Man of the Match: Wayne Frederick.  What little offense we had did run through him and of course he got the goal.  I was wrong about him, he's still developing but he's a lot better than he showed last season.

This Needs No Introduction

But we're going to do it anyway.  We all know what tomorrow is, the first leg of the Rocky Mountain Cup.  We're over in Sandy at KKK Slogan Field for this one (I had to resist the urge to use this as the header picture).  A reminder of the rules.  Most points, most goals, then its essentially a tie and the current holders retain the Rocky Mountain Cup.  That's us this year.  So in practice that means a one goal loss or better means we just have to win the home game in August to retain the Cup.  Anything better than that just makes the job easier.  Kickoff for the rivalry clash is at 7:30pm.

Good luck to the travelling C38 support that leave the Dick at 6:30am tomorrow.  Its never fun having to enter the dark place.

Player Availability:

OUT: GK Zack Steffen (upper body), M Alex Harris (illness), M Ted Ku-DiPietro (shoulder)

QUESTIONABLE: M Josh Atencio (concussion)

Miguel Navarro is still one yellow from suspension.  Atencio travelled with the team to Utah and will be available but I wouldn't be shocked if he didn't start.

Not sure on the wingers or the right back, but the rest feels fairly solid.  I do think Yapi will start but we could push back into that 2-striker formation too.  Regardlss some guys need to dig deep for this on and on Wednesday for the Open Cup.  If there's nothing left for Dallas in a week, so be it.

Prediction: 2-1 loss, goal by Navarro.  FSL is, sadly, a better team than us right now and they're at home.  But I do think Wells has the team in the right mentality to not get blown out in Sandy like we've seen far too many times.  Rafa gets an important goal to keep it close and we hang on with everything to get out with just a one goal deficit and et up for a win or go home type game in August.

Smash And Grab

As I predicted Minnesota and Colorado played to a 1-0 result last night.  As I failed to predict though, Colorado came out on the winning side.  For only the second time this season the Rapids lost the possession game but still managed to claim the three points.  As the saying goes, that's why they play the games.  With the win the Rapids move up into the final playoff spot (on a tiebreaker) going into the lat week before the World Cup break.

Random Thoughts:

• Last week (And before that too) I questioned if Matt Wells could adapt or if he was too wedded to his system.  Last night he came out in a 5-4-1 that morphed into a 4-2-2-2 in attack and didn't focus as much on playing out of the back.  In the post-game conference he said "To go out and play our normal shape tonight would have setting the guys up to fail". a very positive sign from Wells.
• That said, some things don't change.  Namely our physicality.  24 fouls last night, an average of 14.6 a game this season.  We're on pace for about 500 fouls this season.  The team record is 581 in 2000, 18.1/game so we probably won't hit that but this is the highest rate since 2007 (though up through 2007 foul rates were incredibly high across the league).
• A nicely worked goal by Aaronson and Navarro.  That's what we need to see out of our DPs.
• That's Navarro's 8th goal, halfway to the single-season team record, and his 12th goal involvement, just under halfway to that team record.  5 more goals will put him second all-time on the Rapids scoring list, passing Paul Bravo.  He's currently 15 behind Conor Casey for the record.
• Honestly a more fair result would have been 1-1.  Minnesota had a couple of big chances, hitting the crossbar in back-to-back shots within a minute, first by James Rodriguez and then by ex-Rapids Anthony Markanich.  They also had a goal called back due to a (clear) offside early in the second half.
• In fact the Rapids were out-possessed, out shots, out xGed, and were equal on corners.  They once again only had 2 shots on target.  But if one goes in and you pitch a shutout that's all you need sometimes.
• Shoutout to Rosenberry for a great game.  For his first start in a while he marshalled the back well.  Something you love to see.
• Herrington bounced back well from the struggles on Saturday.  He is so good.  He was named to the MLS team of the matchday.
• Miguel Navarro was the only player risking suspension for the game on Saturday and he got out without a card so everyone will be available (barring injury).
• Speaking of, Saturday is the big one.  The Rocky Mountain Cup in Sandy.  As long as we keep it to, at worst, a 1 goal loss then all we have to do is win the home match in August to retain the Cup, but I want more of a buffer than that.

Man of the Match: Nico Hansen.  A big shutout when we needed it, Hansen was well-placed on a number of Minnesota shots last night.  He also commanded his area well.  For you other old-timers he has a bit of Bouna Coundoul in him, occasionally going for short walkabouts when you wish he didn't but it didn't cost us last night.,

Rapids Start Tough Two Game Road Trip

Before we get started, the MLS Players Union annual spring salary release was today.  Given that we have 4 games in the next 11 days I'm not going to get around to covering it in detail until we reach the World Cup break, but it is out there.

Now, on to tomorrow's game.  Colorado makes the trip to the Land Of A Thousand Lakes to take on Minnesota United.  The Rapids are on a 5 game winless streak while United is coming off a home draw against Austin.  With a win Minnesota could jump to 3rd in the West, depending on other results, while a Colorado win could get them back into a playoff position.

Player Availability:

OUT: GK Zack Steffen (upper body), D Rob Holding (red card suspension), M Josh Atencio (concussion), M Ted Ku-DiPietro (shoulder), M Hamzat Ojediran (yellow card suspension)

Also Miguel Navarro is one yellow card from suspension.  Some tough decisions are going to have to be made tomorrow.  With two big matches in the week after it I think the Rapids should punt on this match and focus on the Rocky Mountain Cup this weekend and Open Cup next Wednesday.

Unlike what I said above I expect Wells to go for it as best he can.  The fullbacks could change but the rest feels fairly solid for the XI.

Prediction: 1-0 loss.  Hard to see the team getting much of anything in this one, though Minnesota doesn't have a high-powered offense.  It will likely play out similar to Saturday, except without the win (and hopefully without the red card).

Punchless

Another game, another two shots on goal total (and one of them was an Aaronson free kick that almost certainly would have been off the bar if it wasn't parried), another loss.  And this against a team that was giving up close to two goals a game coming in and scoring less that one.  Its becoming clear that the league has figured out how to shut down Wells' system and he has yet to adjust.

The other talking point in this one was the Holding red card.  It was a weak call at best and completely bogus in reality.  Never should have been a red.  That said the Rapids were adrift even before the card so I don't think it changed the outcome.

With the 1-0 loss the Rapids drop to 12th in the west on PPG, tied with San Diego, and 23rd in the league over all.  They are 6 points back of the non-wild card playoff spots and their three remaining pre-World Cup break league matches are against 5th, 6th, and 7th in the West.

Random Thoughts:

• The Rapids now have 12 shots on goal in the last 5 league games, while giving up 8 goals.  FotMob is showing 9 big chances in those 5 games.  We're out possessing the other team.  Generating corner kicks, keeping the ball around the box, and yet can't turn that into quality chances and goals.
• The one St. Louis goal was a combination of some well placed bounces and some inexperienced play.  Holding got beat to a header, the ball bounced past Herrington, and Lucas learned that his speed won't always save him.  With a little more experience he's a step or two further back and shuts down the breakaway before it starts.  Then Hansen came out and got nothing but air, not even making it difficult for the attacker to go around him.  Again, a lesson learned.
• I'm not sure how Durkin's red card was a second yellow and not a straight red.  The ref had a bad night.
• FotMob also had Aaronson with the best rating on the night, which is damning with faint praise given that nobody rated 7 or better.  Its just not enough out of him though, he had two good passes in the 72nd minute that set up shots and the free kick that wasn't going to be scored and that was it.
• If Minoumgou doesn't miss the header at the end of the game we're probably having a very different discussion but he put it way off target.  For all his good ball work he needs it to turn into something more.
• Ojediran picked up a yellow so he'll be suspended on Wednesday along with Holding being suspended for his red card.
• The focus in this one should really be on Wells.  5 games into this winless streak and we've scored 3 goals in the 5 games and are on a 237' scoreless streak.  Its time to admit that his plan isn't working and change something.
• We now he to Minnesota and Sandy.  Two tough games before what is likely to be our biggest game of the first half of the year, the Open Cup quarterfinal.  At this point I'm fine if we bag the league for these next two weeks and focus on not getting blown out in Sandy (to keep the Rocky Mountain Cup alive) and beating San Jose next Wednesday.  If that means we lose in Minnesota and to Dallas at home, so be it.  Pick up the pieces after the World Cup break with hopefully a winnable semifinal at home in September.

Man of the Match: Miguel Navarro.  Nobody showed out particularly well but the other Navarro had a solid game at a position where we've been struggling.

Time To Turn Things Around

 

This is the first time back at the Dick since we lost Ryan Sabin from a medical incident at the Open Cup match.  As you can see above Centennial 38 will be remembering him in a number of ways tomorrow. Please join us.

The Rapids finally got a full week off to rest and get healthy, only to turn around and start another 5 games in the next two weeks leading into the World Cup break.  We're home against St. Louis tomorrow, on the road in Minnesota on Wednesday, we have the Rocky Mountain Cup first leg in the dark place next weekend, then back at the Dick for the USOC Quarterfinal against San Jose, and finally finishing up with a home game against Dallas.  The good news it that everyone but possibly Herrington will get almost two months off after that.

Looking at that schedule tomorrow is actually an important game.  Its probably the most winnable game of the group and its first when we're the most rested.  Its almost a must-win.  After that you have to think the focus will be on the Rocky Mountain Cup and Open Cup matches, with Minnesota and Dallas being lower priority.

This is also our first league match at our home in just under a month (since Miami was over at Empower).  Kickoff tomorrow is at the normal 7:30pm.

Player Availability:

OUT: M Josh Atencio (head), M Ted Ku-DiPietro (shoulder), M Wayne Fredrick (leg)

QUESTIONABLE: D Jackson Travis (leg)

Hamzat Ojediran is also one yellow card from a suspension.  Travis did play last week when he was listed as questionable so I wouldn't expect him to start but certainly be on the bench.

We're still hurting for fully healthy central midfielders which is why I think we'll see some form of a 2-striker setup again.  Hansen over Steffen might be wishcasting but I think its time.  The rest feels fairly solid.

Prediction: 2-0 win, goals by Navarro and Minoungou.  St. Louis is a bad team with only 9 goals scored in 10 games.  This is a 'get healthy' sort of game and we need to treat it that way.  Put them away early, maybe rotate some players in the second half, and don't struggle too much to get the three points.

Dynamo Power Down Rapids

Colorado stumbled into Houston on Saturday but put out a punch-less attack and succumbed to a laser shot from outside the box for a 1-0 loss.  Neither team played great, you could tell they were both at the end of a long stretch of 7 games in 3 weeks.  With the loss the Rapids are now 1-1-4 in their last 6 league matches.  With 5 games coming up in 2 weeks Colorado has to figure out how to play without their top lineup, and their top guys have to get better.

Random Thoughts:

• In each of the last 4 league games the Rapids have had over 57% possession.  They've got a combined 10 shots on goal with that possession.  They've allowed 7 goals in those games.  Its really hard to win when over 4 games you only have 3 more shots on target than goals allowed.
• This is the first real test for Wells.  Fixing this dichotomy before the long World Cup break and keeping us in contact with the group fighting to avoid the wild-card game is a must.
• Really can't complain about the goal allowed.  You would hope somebody could step up and shut the shot down but Steffen wasn't going to save it and it was just a well hit ball.
• That said, Steffen almost had a horrendous gaffe parrying a ball into the goal (it bounced just outside the line) and got caught in no-mans land again.  Even if you're not going to make Hansen the #1 giving Steffen a week or two off to get sorted out is a must.
• By halftime the Rapids were really out of midfield options.  Losing Atencio to injury when we only had 4 fully healthy midfielders meant the second half was going to be a struggle.  Losing Holding didn't help Wells' flexibility either.
• I know he's dealing with a leg injury but we need to talk about Paxten Aaronson (again).  He had the one shot on goal after the Rapids were down, but other than that you wouldn't have known he was on the field.  We need more for the price paid.
• This was an ugly game from both sides, you could really tell how tired and beat up the squads were.  I understand the need to compress the schedule around the World Cup but its hurting us.
• And with that, this is the end of far too many game previews/game/game reviews.  Barring any news I'm taking tomorrow off and maybe the whole week until the Friday preview.

Man of the Match: Noah Cobb.  Had to come in off the bench and partner with Herrington, which didn't work to open the season in Seattle.  This time they locked things down and Houston never really had a good look at goal.

Dynamo, Rapids, Running Out Of Gas

Before we get started there was some sad news from Centennial 38 and the Rapids today.  Ryan Sabin, one of C38's tailgate crew, passed away after a medical incident at the Open Cup game Wednesday night.  His Rapids family will miss him terribly and my thoughts are with his loved ones.  The club will wear black armbands to remember him tomorrow and there will be a moment of silence before the next home match on the 9th.

After 7 games the Rapids reach the end of this 3 weeks of 3 games with a trip to Houston.  Houston's trip to Commerce City started this sequence but the good news is that they've played just as many games as we have, and are equally beat up.  This is the last *scheduled* game between the teams in the regular season, but both are in the Open Cup quarterfinals and if both win in 2.5 weeks then the Dynamo would make one more trip to Colorado for the semifinal.  Both teams went 120 minutes in their Round of 16 match on Wednesday (though the Dynamo didn't need PKs) so they're equally tired at this point.  Kickoff tomorrow is ay 6:30pm.

Player Availability:

OUT: M Wayne Fredrick (leg), M Ted Ku-DiPietro (shoulder), M Connor Ronan (leg)

QUESTIONABLE: M Paxten Aaronson (leg), M Georgi Minoungou (leg)

Yeah, that's a lot of midfield missing.  The Dynamo have 3 players out, including Vines, and one questionable.  Both teams are limping into this one.

That's every midfielder that's played at least 90 minutes this season and who's not on the injury report.  Maybe Wells goes to a 5-3-2 or something but my bet is that it will look something like this.  We need the guys like Herrington and Navarro to dig deep one more time, though if the game gets out of hand either way they'll be quick subs.  I know I said I wanted Hansen to be the starter in net, but with him plying 120 minutes plus a shootout on Wednesday and with a home game next week, I think its probably best to make that change against St. Louis in front of a friendly crowd.

Prediction: 2-2 draw.  Goals by Navarro and Yapi.  We beat this team 6-2 three weeks ago at home, but we were healthy and rested.  Neither is the case now.  I think we're a better team than them but I think we're going to run out of gas.

Path To The Final Is Open

Last night's game was fairly ugly to watch.  The Rapids certainly played down to their opponents while the officiating was rough.  In the end though the home side got the result and moves on to the quarterfinals for the first time in 20 years.  The Burgundy Bots took the lead twice, gave it back twice, and finally won in 7 rounds of PKs.

This morning the draw was held for the rest of the competition.  The 8 remaining teams (all MLS this year) are split into a West pot and an East pot with the winners meeting in the final.  Colorado was grouped with San Jose, Houston, and St. Louis, while Columbus, NYCFC, Orlando, and Atlanta make up the East.  For the quarterfinals the Rapids will host San Jose while S. Louis hosts Houston.  Then if Colorado beats San Jose they'll hos the StL/Hou winner in the west semifinal (if San Jose wins then the StL-Hou winner hosts them).  The final will be hosted by the winner of the eastern group.

So Colorado gets four straight home games in the USOC then travels to the final, if they get that far.  This is our best chance to win it since we reached the final in 1999.  But what stands in our wat is the hottest team in MLS, San Jose.  Top of the league, won 9 of 10 games this season, only allowed 6 goals.  If, somehow, we get by them then you would think we would be favorites to win the semis.

The semifinal will be May 19th or 20th at the Dick.  The prior weekend we're in Sandy for the first leg of the Rocky Mountain Cup and the following Saturday we're at home facing Dallas in our last game before the World Cup break.  San Jose has Dallas at home the weekend before and a trip to Portland after.  If I'm the Rapids I look to get (at least) a draw in Utah and punt on the Dallas game.  Should they beat San Jose the semifinal wouldn't be until mid-September, with the final in October.

Back to last night's match, some thoughts:

Random Thoughts:

• Last night really showed the gap between the leagues to me.  The Rapids went out there without two of their biggest names (Steffen and Aaronson), pulled two other notable starters at half (Cannon and Ojediran), played pretty badly the hole game, and were down a man for the last 15 minutes plus all 30 minutes of extra time, and it still took a PK for a team that was USL Champs two years ago and a playoff team last year to use that man advantage.  There's a lot of talk about how the Springs kept it close and played hard, but even with that they were struggling to stay in the game.
• Speaking of that man down, I don't know what Thompson was thinking.  Its a clear red as he swept his back leg through the legs of the Switchback.
• A couple of other big events,  First the Georgi goal to take the lead in extra time has a hint of offside, but I don't know if MLS VAR calls it back.  The EPL might, as they sit there and draw lines, but eyeballing it off the screen like MLS I don't know if there's enough there to overturn.
• Meanwhile the Switchbacks PK late in extra time seemed like BS on the 8-bit scoreboard in the stadium, but watching it on a real screen today I'm leaning towards it being the right call.  It does appear like it hit Atencio's arm and he had it out away from his body.
• Speaking of, Josh can go sit on the bench next to Steffen now.  He was involved in both Switchbacks goals.  On the first he's standing 2 yards away from an unmarked Springs attacker in the box and doesn't close him down, instead he's bouncing around like he's hoping for an outlet pass to start a break, but Hamzat is another yard past him and would be the better player to take that pass.  So then its an easy put away for that attacker.  And he missed his PK in the shootout.  A number of fans think he had a good night passing, but he wasn't involved in either Rapids goal.  Being a good passer that doesn't lead to anything isn't enough to make up for repeated defensive mistakes.
• There were a few players that seemed to struggle and revert to old habits.  Yapi seemed off (especially in the first half) and Cannon struggled at times.  To be fair to Reggie it was his first game back off of injury.
• The Rapids had a hard time adjusting to the ref.  Sometimes you get a ref that is going to be ticky-tack about things and you have to deal with it, not just complain.

Man of the Match: Rafa Navarro.  Yeah, I know, I'm becoming a broken record on this.  But he had the assist on both goals, scored his PK, and has played all but the first 69 minutes against Union Omaha in this 7 games in 19 day stretch, including the full 120 last night.  He's going to need the World Cup break when we get there.

I-25 Derby In The Open Cup

Tomorrow night the Rapids are going to try to do something they've never done at the Dick.  Qualify for the Open Cup quarterfinals.  The last time the burgundy boys made it past the Round of 16 they were the black and blue boys and were playing their last season at Mile High (though both USOC gamers were on the road that year) and it was the last time we beat a MLS team in this competition, taking down FSL 1-0 in Utah.  This is also the 10th anniversary of the last time we played the Switchbacks, beating them in USOC play, so its only appropriate that they're our opponents tomorrow night for this all-Colorado battle.  If Minnesota beats San Jose in the match about to kickoff the Colorado teams were be the furthest west teams left in this year's competition.  Kickoff tomorrow night is at 7pm.

I'm still not going to predict a lineup for this one.  We're on our 6th game in 18 days, with another one to come this weekend before we finally get a midweek break.  Its really going to be a matter of who has legs left to go in this one.  The Springs have only played 3 in that same time, so they'll be better rested.  I do expect Nico Hansen to get the start in goal but outside of that its an open question.

Prediction: 3-1 win.  To be blunt, tired or not, a team that ran Houston out of its place 6-3 a couple of weeks ago should no be losing to a lower-league team in the same stadium.  I'm sure the derby nature of this game will keep it tighter than we're comfortable for longer than we want but in the end the greater talent of the Rapids should prevail.  Of course, the Rapids have found ways to lose the games plenty of times in the past (Orlando, Atlanta, New Mexico...).

Soaked

I predicted a tow goal loss in Vancouver, and that's what happened, but the score line flattered us.  With the exception of about 5-10 minutes in each half Vancouver had full control of this game and it never felt like we were going to get anything out of it.  In the end a week against 3 of the toughest teams in the league ended with 1 point, which shows you how far the Rapids have to go still.

Random Thoughts:

• This game could have easily been 3-0, or 5-2, or anything in-between.  Vancouver missed multiple great chances, and had a goal disallowed while our goal probably shouldn't have counted.
• On our goal the ball appears to hit both Sealy's arm and particularly Navarro's arm right before it went in the goal.  Now only one angle showed that and there's enough of a potential optical illusion there that I can see why VAR didn't send it down, but I'm 95% sure we got away with one there.
• It was a particularly bad miss when in the second half Vancouver had a goal disallowed for a similar handball.  Had Vancouver not come out on top they would still be screaming about those calls.
• On the Rapids goal, Ojediran played probably the best pass of the season to set up the attacking sequence.
• Meanwhile on the disallowed goal the only reason it even hit the attackers arm is the Herrington came from way back to make a pinpoint tackle to deny the attacker the easy shot.  Gorgeous play.
• You know last time we went to Canada and Steffen had a horrible game that cost us points and I said if he had one more bad game it would be time to bench him?  Well this game wasn't as bad as Toronto, but it wasn't good.  He looked slow on the first Vancouver goal, though I'm not sure he could have saved it anyway, and was completely caught in no-man's land on the second.  He also struggled to catch anything all night, giving up a number of rebounds but none that turned out to be dangerous.  He just looked like he was laboring all night.  I think its time for Hansen.
• Outside of the gorgeous Herrington play our defense struggled all night.  Holding was cooked regularly and neither Thompson or Navarro looked great.  And the less said about Rosenberry on the third goal the better (nothing Keegan could do, he just doesn't have the speed anymore).
• For his second start in a row Aaronson was subbed out in the second half while the team was down a goal.  That's not what you want to see from somebody of his stature/price
• In the 3 games last week the Rapids gave up 6 goals.  Their offense combined for 8 shots on goal in those 3 games.  Really hard to win with a dichotomy like that.
• The Rapids had a majority of possession in each if those three games, but couldn't turn it into anything.
• After this rough week the Rapids face 5 teams around or below them before the World Cup break.  They're at Houston, Minnesota, and FSL, and face St. Louis and Dallas at home, They should be looking to get 7-9 points out of those (including at least 1 in Sandy) and staying in a playoff position going into the break.
• Before that though, they've got the Switchbacks at home on Wednesday night for a place in the Open Cup Quarterfinals, A round they've never reached wearing burgundy.

Man of the Match: Rafa Navarro.  Easy way out on this one but with the goal he leads the league in goals + assists.  If he scores in Houston on Saturday he'll be halfway to the team season-goal scoring record (16, Casey '09, Rubio '23) with less than a third of the season done.  If he gets and goal contribution he'll be just under halfway to the team record as well (25, Mihailovic '24).

H2O

The rapids of the Fraser River meet the whitecaps of the Pacific near Vancouver

Water meets water north of the border tomorrow as the Rapids meet their aquatic counterparts the Whitecaps in Vancouver.  Colorado is coming off a good 0-0 draw in LA on Wednesday while the 'Caps are rested after their game last weekend.  There are 27K expected in BC Place for this one as this is the last home game for Vancouver until August due to FIFA taking over their stadium for the World Cup.  Kickoff is at 8:30pm MT.

Player Availability:

OUT: M Josh Atencio (yellow card suspension), M Ted Ku-DiPietro (shoulder), M Connor Ronan (leg)

QUESTIONABLE: D Jackson Travis (ankle)

I would be very surprised if Travis plays given the turf at BC Place.  Reggie Cannon is back and will be in the gameday roster according to Wells, but I wouldn't expect him to start.

This is really just a guess based on who's available and who's played what this week.  Everyone is going to have to dig deep, especially down the center spine, to come up with another 90 minutes.  Maybe Rosneberry starts?  Or Yapi goes again since he didn't start last Saturday?  Do we risk Cobb in the middle instead of Herrington?

Prediction: 0-2 loss.  Vancouver is rested at home and is the best offense in the league.  We're tired and couldn't score against a good team on Wednesday.  I just don't see much in this one for us.

 

Our First Point From The Bank!

It wasn't always the most exciting soccer, but a point is a point and for good chunks of the game the Rapids dominated play.  A bit of a statement from this Rapids team to go into LA and get their first point in a scoreless draw against a very good LAFC front line in Bouanga and Sonny.  We do have areas to improve on the attack against these tough teams but a big victory for the defense in this one.

Random Thoughts:

• Both teams hit the post, but the closest anyone got was LAFC's shot that went off both the crossbar and the post.  We got lucky with that one.
• The Rapids had the best overall looks though, with Lloris having to make two great saves and a stretched out but somewhat routine save in the first half.
• At halftime the listed xG from Apple was 0.25 for Colorado and 0.0 for LAFC.  xG is not a great stat at a game (or half) level but 0 is still 0 no matter the time period.
• I was a little worred about having Thompson, Travis, and Atencio in the starting XI given that they've all been up and down this year, but to their credit they all had good games, particularly Atencio.
• Wells made it sound like Travis' injury wasn't that bad in the post-game, but I have my doubts we see him on the turf in Vancouver.
• Another player we won't see is Atencio who picked up his 5th yellow (in 7 starts!) and will be suspended.  Even Pablo is giving some side-eye to that collection.
• Herrington made the MLS team of the (mid) week with a 100% pass accuracy on 120 passes.  I would be shocked if we're not hearing about a sale within the next 365 days.  If he shows up in the World Cup I'd cut that down to 120.
• The Rapids had 73% of the possession, but only 2 shots on target.  I'm sure Wells was emphasizing that area of improvement in the locker room post game.
• The flip side of that though is that with 73% of the ball it doesn't give the opposition much time to attack, and Colorado only gave up 1 shot on target all night.
• The focus now shifts to Vancouver, likely an even tougher game as the Whitecaps didn't play midweek and will be well rested.  They'll also have 27K in the house for their last home game until August, due to BC Place being used for the World Cup.  A draw there would be a very solid week on the road.

Man Of The Match: Rob Holding - He's been the quiet center of the back line this year but in this one he really stepped up to put out any fire that was developing.  I wasn't originally sold on him at the end of last season but he's been the veteran presence the kids like Travis and Herrington have needed so far this season.

Our Least Favorite Road Trip: LAFC

Colorado heads out on the road for a double-game week.  They'll be up north in Vancouver on Saturday but first they have to go somewhere they hate, LAFC, tomorrow night.  The Rapids have never won at the Bank and LAFC is looking particularly tough this year, having given up just the first goals of the whole season on Sunday.  Kickoff tomorrow is at 8:30pm 

Player Availability:

Out: M Ted Ku-DiPietro (shoulder), M Conner Ronan (leg)

Cannon and Miguel Navarro return from injury but in the case of Cannon I'm not sure he'll be up to jumping back into the starting XI after missing a month but Navarro should be good to go.

This is really a guess.  I have no idea how Wells is going to rotate for his first true 3 game week and knowing he'll be facing a rested Vancouver on the weekend.  Even if its this lineup it could be a 4-4-2, a 4-5-1, or a 4-3-3.  I don't see Atencio starting after his struggles on Saturday and I think both Travis and Thompson have failed to grab the right back spot, so if there's any time Keegan gets a start it feels like its this one.  I expect Rafa and possibly one of the center backs to be subbed out in the 2nd unless its a tight game.

Prediction: 0-2 loss.  Colorado might have the second best offense in the league but LAFC has the best defense by far, and they're impossible to beat at home (at least by the Rapids).  I'm going to have to see this team do more than lose to good teams before I predict a result on the road, especially at the Bank.

Messi'ed

Well, that's a day we'll not forget for a while.  The second largest crowd in league history and the largest to ever watch a soccer game in the state of Colorado saw the Rapids outplay Inter Miami for most of the game but make just enough mistakes to leave them in a spot where the GOAT could do GOAT things and steal the three points.

Random Thoughts:

• First, on the "event" if the game.  When this was announced I ripped into the Rapids for the decision to move the game.  The Rapids gave an interview to the Denver Business Journal last week which revealed that it was the league that really forced the move as part of the "bid" to land this game.  I have many thoughts about what was revealed in that article, few of them good, but considering we have 5 games in the next 12 days its going to be a while before I get back to them.  But I owed it to the FO to make that point clear.
• That said, I'm glad we don't play at Empower regularly.  It didn't help that the Nuggets and Rockies were both in town, but getting to and from the stadium is a much bigger pain from the north than the Dick is.  RTD only running the G Line every half hour is annoying.  Also being in the back row of the lower bowl felt further away than the concourse at the Dick.
• All in all I'm sure the league got what they wanted out of this game and it was a big feather on the Rapids FO cap, but I'd be quite happy if we never did it again.  We've built a home and our own supporter culture out in Commerce City.  That's where we should be.
• Onto the game itself.  The Rapids insist on playing it out of the back and they're good enough to do that against the bad and average teams in the league.  But not against the good teams.  The 4 teams we've beaten are all outside the playoffs.  3 of the 4 teams we've lost to are playoff teams that we gave goals to from poor play out of the back (the 4th, TFC, is a playoff team but that game goes into its own special category).
• On the first goal on Saturday Atencio took a heavy touch on a hot pass from Steffen in the box and was left with no choice but to go in on the attacker.  Live I thought it was a PK, on replay it was lighter than I thought, but you can't put the ref (or VAR) in a position to make that call.  Messi, of course, finished the PK.
• The second goal, right before half, is unforgiveable.  You're taking a throw-in in the attacking half with 20 seconds left in stoppage time.  There is no way that should turn into an opposing goal.  Instead Atencio plays not one but two back passes, Aaronson gets muscled off the ball, and somehow Thompson, Holding, and Steffen are beat by a single Miami attacker to the ball.  Complete breakdown because of being so devoted to playing it out of the back.  Miami had 2 shots on target in the half and went into the locker room with a 2-0 lead.
• Full credit to Wells and whatever he said at half because the home side came out flying and equalized in a 4 minute window around the 60th minute.  First Navarro got his 6th goal and league-leading 10th goal contribution of the season with a nice solo run right up the middle where he broke a defender's ankles.
• Then Yapi followed it up with almost his first touch of the game by taking down a great long-ball from Herrington and slotting it home.
• At that point it felt like we had momentum and might find a winner.  But in the 79th minute Messi did Messi things.  A turnover in midfield broke him free down our left side.  Despite being closed down fairly well and having multiple defenders to shoot through the GOAT's left foot found a way to put it in the upper corner.  There's maybe one other player (Son) in the league who makes that shot, and even that's questionable.  You tip your hat and move on.
• It was obvious the big crowd and the opposition made a number of the Rapids nervous in this one.  They settled down as it went on but passes weren't as clean as they have been, etc.
• The decision to take Aaronson out down a goal at home was a choice.  He didn't have a great game so I understand it, but when you're biggest ever signing is being pulled in the biggest match since he's arrived its not a great sign.
• Ojediran is having a quality, quiet, season.  I rarely notice him but I also rarely notice us having any problems in that area.  Though having him take out Messi in this one would have been worth the red.
• Steffen might have been able to clear that second goal but other than that there's nothing he could have done in this one.
• Atencio had a bad game.  I don't know who you put in midfield with Ojediran, Aarons, and Fredrick at this point but I don't think its him.
• Now the schedule gets hard.  Road trips to LAFC and a rested Vancouver, then 3 of the 5 after that on the road as well before the World Cup break.  We're only going to have played 6 of the 15 games before the break at home.  Just staying in contact should be the goal.

Man Of The Match: Rafa Navarro.  The goal was class and exactly what was needed coming out of the locker room.

The New Kids Are OK

The Rapids haven't posed an updated pic yet

So that whole thing from my game preview about Kosi Thompson not being ready to start?  Yeah, clearly I know nothing.  Thompson started, scored in the first 4 minutes, picked up another goal, and led the Rapids to a 6-2 win of Houston.  Needless to say I didn't see that coming.  The Matt Wells experience is never boring.

Random Thoughts:

• The interesting thing about this match is that the stats are really even.  Same number of shots on target, same number of big chances, almost equal possession and almost equal xG.  The difference is that the Rapids took better shots with their chances.
• Second chance goals were big in this one.  Both of Thompson's goals were from following the play for example.  With the amount of chances the Rapids are creating under Wells being the second man in can pay off at times.
• I'm not sure we really figured out the lineup at any point in this one.  Multiple players like Ojediran and Fredrick dropped back at times to fill the hole in the back line.  A really nice coaching job by Wells.
• Navarro's first goal is about as clean a goal as I've seen from a Rapids striker in years.  Again, as the second man in, it was a very deft flick of his boot that slammed the boal home.  Just a pleasure to watch.
• Josh Atencio was named MOTM at the game, and he had a nice game, but he was maybe third on my lists of MOTM.
• (And just to clarify, Centennial 38 awards their Man of the Match oar but its the Rapids who pick the MOTM, not C38)
• Thompson, Sealy, Fredrick, Atencio, Navarro, Minoungou, and unofficially Cobb (own goal on Houston) were all on the score sheet.  Thompson, Navarro, and Fredrick all showed up multiple times.
• Minoungou was delayed returning from Burkina Faso and had only trained with the team for one day, but man did he show some dribbling skills.  He almost scored on his first run.
• Fredrick got a lock of flack last season, and I questioned how much time he's been getting under Wells, but he is balling out.  Maybe the pressing system is what was needed to unlock him.

Since its late I am not going to have time to do a separate Open Cup preview.  Nor will I be able to go to the game because of business travel on Wednesday.   And because of that travel any recap will probably be limited.  Its Union Omaha at home.  A team that just beat a MLS team by 4 goals and who have outscored 3 MLS teams at home by 12-3 should not be losing to Union Omaha regardless of who we start, short of running out a bunch of Rapids 2 players.  This should be a win for the Rapids and advancement to the next round to face SKC away or the Switchbacks at home.

Man of the Match: Kosi Thompson.  Had 2 goals, including what turned out to be the game-winner.  Easy call.  It turns out that despite only announcing his visa on Wednesday he had actually ben training for a few days prior to that so he was more integrated in the system than I thought.  A first impression like this is going to make it hard for Travis or Cannon to get the right back spot back!

Well Done Houston

I realize Houston is the opposition tomorrow but as I sit here writing this while watching Artemis' return to our planet I have to give Mission Control in Houston credit for a great job over the last 10 days.  Teenaged me once dreamed of being in that room (I was never going to make it as an astronaut so Flight Director was my goal) and while I have no regrets about my life or choices it will never get old watching NASA do things like this (unlike Elon).

Anyway, on to tomorrow night's game where the Rapids are finally home for the first time in more than a month.  Of course they're without a number of players but better to deal with that in the friendly confines of the Dick.  Meanwhile one player that would certainly be starting tomorrow is he were still with us will be on the other side as Sam Vines makes his return to Colorado.  Kickoff tomorrow is the normal 7:30pm.

Player Availability:

OUT: D Reggie Cannon (ankle), D Miguel Navarro (red card), D Jackson Travis (red card), M Ted Ku-DiPietro (shoulder), M Connor Ronan (leg)

The Rapids announced today that Ted Ku-DiPietro underwent shoulder surgery this week and will be reevaluated in 5 months (so late September).  Essentially his season is over barring an unexpected rapid recovery.  Spending $1.125M on a guy who was recovering from shoulder surgery and who will have 12 starts and a little over 1200 minutes total late into his second season with the club is not looking like a winning move.

Obviously the big issue though is our lack of fullbacks.  We have five on the roster and three are unavailable.  The only other two are Keegan Rosenberry and Kosi Thompson, who got his visa on Wednesday and is available.  For a team like last year's Rapids under Armas I could see Thompson being thrown into the starting lineup tomorrow.  For Matt Wells' system though?  Thompson has had maybe 3 days of practice with the team (he couldn't even train with the club before he got his visa) and the system requires a lot of playing out of the back.  Plus the amount of pressing that needs to happen at altitude.  I can't see Thompson as anything more than a possible late sub.

With only one fullback really available, an unknown use of Minoungou, and an Open Cup match next week before the 30th Anniversary/Messi match I'm not going to try to predict a lineup for this one.  We could see a winger pushed back to play defense, a 3 center back setup, or something really unexpected.

Prediction: 2-1 win, goals by Navarro and Yapi.  Even with our lack of fullbacks I think we're a better team than Houston, and we're at home.  Houston has played one less game then us, due to their game at New England being delayed due to weather, but even with that their offense only has 8 goals, and 6 of them came in the two games they did play in March (against an average Dallas and a bad Portland side).  This is actually their first game outside Texas this season.  It won't be easy but the Rapids pull out the 3 points to remain perfect at home.

Colorado Rapids Forever

Today the Rapids announced the results of the 'fan activation' from the offseason where they were considering rebranding the club.  The overwhelming response (90%+) from the fans they talked to was don't change the name, don't change the colors, but updating the badge and other branding is fine.

So that's what they announced they're going to do.  We will still be the Colorado Rapids.  We still still be the burgundy boys.  We will have a new badge.  Nourse at the Post and Pollard at Burgundy Wave did get confirmation that "keeping the colors" might include slightly changing the shades of burgundy and blue but the fundamental colors will remain the same.

This is fine from my POV.  I'm not particularly attached to the logo, it was always the fallout of the botched Arsenal Colorado rebrand in 2007.  The important thing is that the Rapids will stay the Rapids and after having three different color schemes in their history they won't add a fourth (mostly).  Most clubs in the last 10 years have revised their badge due to the needs of a technological age where scaling the badge down to use on social media means complex designs get muddled.

The important thing here is really that for once they actually listened to the fans.  When I discussed this in January I really teed off on the Front Office, saying that either this decision had already been made or this would all go away and not be discussed again.  Instead they split the difference and decided, correctly, major changes would be a mistake but refreshing the identity had value.  In my defense the FO has a long history of talk without action but I welcome this change.

It sounds like due to timing with the schedule switch any sort of new badge and image probably won't be ready when the 27-28 first winter season launches, so we're looking at two years out before we see the results of this.

In other news that actually dropped last week but I was unable to get to, the Rapids have the details of their first Open Cup match of the season.  Its next Tuesday, April 14th, at 7:30pm at the Dick.  The opponent is USL Championship side Union Omaha.  The winner gets the winner of the SKC-Colorado Springs happening just down I-25 that same night.  If Colorado Springs wins then (assuming the Rapids win) then the battle of Colorado would be at the Dick.  If SKC wins and the Rapids do the all-MLS I-70 battle would take place in KC.  (If you're wondering the same things apply if Omaha wins, they'd host the Switchbacks but go to KC).  Sadly I probably won't be able to attend this one as I have to be on a flight the next morning.

#MLSAfterDawn

You can't call a game that started at 1:30pm local, 11:30am in the road team's market a #MLSAfterDark special, but this game delivered what you would expect from that tag in spades.  Unfortunately at the end the Rapids were left holding the short end of a 3-2 scoreline trying to figure out where it all went wrong.  And in about 20 minutes of the second half it went very wrong.

Random Thoughts:

• Uh, where to start?  I guess with one of the two obvious storylines so lets go with the officiating.  It was a mess.  It was clear from minute to minute nobody knew what was a foul or yellow card.  I'm not even sure the ref know what his level was.  The lightest of touches (Ojediran) would be carded while full body slams (on Navarro) weren't even a foul.
• That said, I have no problem with the two straight red cards.  Some refs would have just given a yellow for Travis' stomp and the VAR wouldn't have overruled, but Jackson came in aggressively, late, and got the ankle.  Its hard to complain about that being a red.  Likewise the foul on Fredrick was a DOGSO red.
• The first yellow to Navarro was self-inflicted.  At that point the ref had already given two reds, a yellow, and things were chaotic.  Don't give him an excuse to give another yellow by booting the ball away, even if it was lightly and probably not something that would be carded by other refs.
• Navarro second yellow was a joke, especially with what the ref was letting go at other times on the field.   There was barely contact, nothing that rose to the level of a foul.  I agree that if there was a foul there it would have to be a card for disrupting the attack, but there was no foul there.
• In the end though, the officiating didn't cost us the game.  Zack Steffen did.  Most of the time you can't really blame a keeper for a loss, but this is one of those times.
• Getting beat near post like he did on the first goal is unforgiveable, but that wasn't the worst of his mistakes.  His inability to play the back pass from Rosenberry and giving up the own goal is an all-time howler.  I think it surpasses Jared Watts for the worst own goal in team history.
• Some people want to blame Keegan for the back pass too, and it was "hotter" than you would probably like, but a keeper has to be able to play that ball, even on frame like it was.
• As you would expect some fans are calling for Steffen to be benched for Hansen.  I think that's a mistake.  Hansen made his own set of bad choices in NYC and needs a bit more seasoning.  I do think whatever benefit of the doubt Steffen had is lost now though.  Another bad game like this and you have to bench him.
• Moving on to everything else, there was a lot to like in the attitude the team displayed being down a man (the first time).  They didn't try to turtle and bunker and kept playing their game come hell or high water.  Once the red card on Toronto equalized things the Rapids actually had some good play. A great free kick from Aaronson and Keegan's annual long-range goal.
• Right before the second red card though I started to wonder why the Rapids looked like they were playing a man down when it was 10v10.  Something had switched in their mentality and they could never flip that switch back the rest of the game.  Instead they were desperately trying to hold onto the lead, then the draw, and got nothing.
• I hope Wells learned a lesson about subbing in two center backs right before a defensive corner kick.  I'm sure the chaos of having 4 CB's on the field and everyone figuring out their roles played into Sargent's winner.
• I felt bad for Manyoma, who got in in the 74th just before Navarro's second yellow only to come off in the 84th after Wells decided to insert those two center backs.
• On the plus side, Herrington kept it from being 4 or 5 to 2 with some big saves.  I don't see how he's here after the World Cup if he makes the Aussie roster (as he should).
• Going into next week's game Travis and Navarro are suspended for their red cards.  Thompson will likely be ineligible while waiting on his visa.  Cannon will probably still be unavailable to start due to his injury.  That leaves the team with exactly 1 right back, Rosenberry, and 0 left backs.  Might we see something like a 3-6-1 with some wingers playing wing-back?  Pushing a winger back to left-back?  Oh, and Sam Vines will be watching from the other bench.
• The good news about this mess is that there was nothing systemic wrong.  It was a combination of a bad ref, a horrible game from Steffen, and a little bad luck.  Just dump it in the trash and move on.

Man of the Match: Rafael Navarro.  For not getting on the score sheet he had a hell of a match and with a different ref likely draws a penalty or a free kick or two in dangerous positions.

Old Friends Meet As Enemies

The Rapids get back from the international break with an early start up north as they're on the road in Toronto.  At the scene of their greatest triumph they'll face off agianst their former coach in Robin Fraser, their former MVP in Djordje Mihailovic (possibly, he's listed as questionable), and their former goalkeeper will be on th bench in Will Yarbrough.  The Rapids recent acquisition from Toronto, Kosi Thompson, will not be available as he's still waiting on his visa.  Kickoff is a very early 11am Mountain tomorrow so don't oversleep!

(Interesting note, both Toronto and Colorado have one MLS Cup win, and both teams win their MLS Cup at BMO Field in Toronto)

Player Availability:

OUT: D Reggie Cannon (ankle), M Ted Ku-DiPietro (shoulder), M Connor Ronan (leg)

Along with the three injured players and Thompson waiting on his visa, new acquisition Georgi Minonugou will not be available, something to do with his visa and having just returned from national team duty with Burkina Faso he can't leave the country right away to go to Canada for this game.  If we were playing another U.S. side he would be able to play.

Kind of tricky to predict this lineup.  Travis was not good at right back last time out so I think Rosenberry will get the start.  Both Herrington and Cobb went on long trips for international callups (Australia and South Korea, respectively) so neither one likely has the legs to go 90.  Herrington got more minutes during the trip but he's young so I'm betting he gets the start with the plan to sub him out around the 60th minute.  Up front Yapi is in the same boat, but with our winger depth being tested I think he also likely gets the start with a plan to sub him out.

Prediction: 1-1 draw, goal by Navarro.  If we were a little healthier and/or a little more rested, or maybe at home, I'd be ok predicting a win.  But I feel like there's just enough stacked against us that we're going to get a draw and be fairly happy about it.

Herrington And Other Internationals

I've been trying to write this post all week but the Rapids keep making solid moves I need to talk about first.  Good problem to have.  Another good thing to have is Lucas Herrington who has been the biggest surprise of the season so far in my opinion.  I did not rate a guy coming over from the A-League as a solid starter but Herrington has arguably been our best (and certainly our most consistent) player over the first 5 games.

And I'm not the only one who has noticed.  Last week a rumor broke that he's being eyed by Everton and West Ham.  Now these type of rumors are always going around so take them with a large grain of salt but that's some notable interest for an 18 year old who has only 5 starts outside his home league.

He was also noticed by the Australian national team and got his first start and cap in their 1-0 win over Cameroon today (early this morning Denver time).  Not only that but he was named man of the match by fans.  You have to think he's got a decent chance to make the World Cup squad at this point, especially if he gets the start and plays well against Curacao on Tuesday.

So a hot start, possible World Cup play, and rumored interest from the Premier League.  I think the Loic Williams signing is partially in preparation for Herrington to leave sooner rather than later.  I don't think its impossible to see him sold in the summer window, and if he's still here for the sprint season next spring we should count ourselves lucky.

This weekend is a busy international break for a number of other Rapids:

• Donovan Phillip got the start as the lone striker for St. Lucia.  He scored the only goal for the Piton in a 6-1 loss to Azerbaijan in Sumgayit
• As mentioned yesterday new winger Georgi Minoungou is in Ouagadougou as his Burkina Faso side hosts Guinea-Bissau in a friendly tomorrow
• Darren Yapi scored the first goal in the USA U-21's 2-0 win over Japan in a friendly in South Korea.  I can't find anything about this game other than the score and goal scorers, but Noah Cobb is also with the team.  The two Rapids will face South Korea as well before returning to Colorado.
• Bryce Jaimson is in camp with the U.S. u-20s in Argentina.  The squad faced the Argentina U-20s in a friendly today and won 3-0, but based on the picture posted of the starting XI Jaimson didn't start and he's not listed as a goal scorer.  Again, that's all I can find on the match.  They will play another match against Independiente's reserves on Tuesday.

Last, but hardly least, there's one more Colorado connection in international play today.  Right now, Friday night in Denver but Saturday in the Marshall Islands, this is happening:

The Ratak Cup is the Marshall Islands' futsal tournament that they are using to build the sport in the islands.  Because of the lack of space and the ease of using already existing basketball courts many small Oceania countries focus on futsal over 11-a-side football to grow the sport.  Earlier this week the Marshall Islands Soccer Federation put out a call asking for sponsors for the tournament.  There was enough interest amongst Centennial 38 members that we decided to sponsor the tournament and actually raised more than double the amount they were looking for.

This is the second iteration of the tournament, expanding from 4 teams in 2024 to 6 teams i 2026 as they kickstart their new futsal league.  The club names are great:

• Real Majuro
• Vasco de Laura
• Clube de Rairok Flamengo
• Ajeltake Arsenal
• Boca Lagoon
• Rita Plate

Majuro, Laura, Rairok, and Ajeltake are communities in the Marshall Islands while Rita is the nickname given by G.I.'s to the now-former naval base on the island.

3 players who played in the 2024 tournament represented the Marshall Islands in their first ever national team games as part of the Outrigger Challenge Cup held last August in Arkansas (Springdale, Arkansas has the largest population of Marshallese outside the islands) and the hope is this year's tournament will be an opportunity for more players to raise their game and play for the full national team in the future.

Even though the tournament is wrapping up just as I post this we're still raising money to help the federation and will be sending them an additional donation of whatever we raise over the next couple of days.  If you want to help out you can donate through C38's website here.

Transfer Window Ends; Judgement: Curiously Competent!

The transfer window closed at some point this evening so its possible a late move may still leak out but I think its safe to say this final move being reported by Niko Moreno and confirmed by Tom Bogert and the Denver Post is the final move for the Rapids.  Colorado is sending $2M in GAM to the Sounders for winger Georgi Minoungou.

Minoungou is 23 years old, 24 in July.  He was born in Ivory Coast but represents Burkina Faso at the senior national team level (he played for the Ivory Coast U-20s before making the switch).  He's currently away with the Burkina Fason national team as this deal is made.  He started his professional career at Czech side MFK Vyskov in 2021 but was loaned to the Tacoma Defiance (Seattle Sounders 2) for the 2022 season and has been in Seattle ever since, moving up to the first team in 2024 and making 21 appearances for my hometown club in 2025.

The reason for the move is that the Sounders are stacked at winger and Georgi is probably 7th in the pecking order if everyone is healthy.  He's still quite raw in many areas but he has one of the best dribbles in the league and no fear about going at any defender.  He's also been pointed out for having an obvious joy for the game and willingness to play both offense and defense.

This is a good, possibly great, move for the Rapids.  It fills an obvious need as I think Minoungou becomes a heavy favorite to start opposite Yapi on the wings and he has a very friendly contract ($104K in 2025) that goes through the 2028-29 season.  $2M is a lot to pay but we need the official announcement (presumably tomorrow) to see how that's split up over time and if there's any performance metrics on it.

As I mentioned yesterday Matt Wells challenged us 2 months ago, after the Bassett trade, to wait until the end of the window to judge the team.  At the time that sounded just like Padraig Smith in 2022 when he traded MAK to open the window and then promised more moves to come, only to sign one player on short-term loan the rest of the way.  Especially when coming into this final week the only move had been to sign Miguel Navarro on loan (and buy out Vines).  It was also a concern that they said "end of the transfer window" when there was 5 games before that and we have a track record of wasting time with signings.

This week though the Rapids put together three solid moves in area of need.  A center back this summer that could fill in if Herrington is sold (Williams), a right back for depth (Thompson), and now a potential starting winger (Minoungou).  All young players that maybe weren't deals but also don't look like dramatic overpays.  This doesn't make the team a MLS Cup favorite but it does put us in position to build on our solid start.  Despite the concerns about not having the deals done before the season started Wells got us off to a 3-0-2 start so it didn't hurt us too much.  Not something I'd generally recommend though.

This wasn't a perfect window of course.  The Sealy move isn't looking strong considering how much we paid and it hurts to see Bassett playing for a different MLS team.  On the flip side Herrington is a top-tier find for this team and Ojediran is the destroyer we've been looking for.  Overall a stronger window than many of us predicted and one that was generally better than average for this team.

Defense Inbound

With the transfer window closing tomorrow the Rapids made a move for the summer window today and are hinting at another move tomorrow, which sources have already revealed.

First the Rapids made the rumored acquisition of Loïc Williams official today.  Williams is a 24 year old Spanish central defender currently playing with Granada CG in the Spanish second division.  His father is DR Congolese so he would be eligible for them as well.  Williams is in his 5th year as a pro having played for Girona B (3rd division), Atletico Paso (4th division), Tenerife (2nd division), and Granada.  He's been a pretty regular starter the last two seasons for Granada and his career grown is that of a player on his way up.

Williams will join the Rapids in the summer window after the end of the Liga 2 season.  His contract is through the 2029-30 season with an club option for the 2030-31 season.  He will, obviously, take an international slot.  Transfermrkt values him at a million Euros and sources told Burgundy Wave this would be a TAM deal, but no details were officially released.

This move is a good sign that at least one of Herrington or holding is on their way out by the time the sprint season starts.  Holding will be out of contract after this season and there's interest in Herrington (more on that later this week).  I would be surprised if he came in and hit the ground running like the later but he appears to be solid depth for this season.

Later today Tom Bogert reported, and BW confirmed, the Rapids have made a deal with Toronto to bring in Canadian RB Kosi Thompson for $200K of GAM, with another $200K of GAM in performance goals.  Thompson is 23 years old and came through the TFC academy so he won't require an international slot as a homegrown player.  The reviews on Thompson from Toronto fans are mixed with the best being that he's a MLS spot starter and could grow into something a bit more.  It sounds like efforts to use him at center back were particularly disastrous.

This is clearly a depth move and may indicate Cannon's injury is worse than first thought.  Regardless its not a good look for Travis after stating last week at right back.  This is likely the move the Rapids are teasing for 10am tomorrow.  The window closes tomorrow afternoon/evening and 2 months ago when Bassett was sold Matt Wells challenged the fans and media to judge the club at the end of the window.  We'll do that tomorrow.

New Attitude Rapids Smash SporKCs

I don't yet know how good our talent is compared to the rest of the league, but I do like our new attitude.  Colorado went into KC and not only won, but won convincingly.  Now Sporting is not a good team this year, and the win should be taken in context, but this is a match that in past seasons the Rapids would have fumbled away points in, ore barely held on for a 2-1 win.  Instead they put KC to the sword and poured it on to ensure the 3 points.

Random Thoughts:

• I was surprised hwen Fredrick got the start again based on his play last week.  Then he went and scored what turned out to be the winning goal  My bad, nice job Wayne.
• Speaking of, SKC's Pulskamp was livid about the goal and was sure he was fouled.  A long VAR check showed....he wasn't even touched.  I have no idea why VAR didn't see that in 5 seconds.
• That back heel on the first Rapids goal by Navarro was pretty.  That was a wonderfully worked goal by the whole team.
• The SKC goal was some poor defense by Jackson Travis and poor keeping by Steffen.  Travis got sucked way too far upfield and inside, leaving the right wing wide open and KC came right through that hole.  Then Steffen got beat near post which is a no-no for a keeper.
• The Rapids struck right back with the Fredrick goal off a Sealy corner, with its on keeping blunder.  This is another example of the attitude change, past Rapids teams would have moped their way into the halftime break at 1-1 instead of aggressively attacking.
• After half it was all Colorado.  KC had one good look they hit right at Steffen at the hour mark and everything else was burgundy.
• Miguel Navarro set up Rafa Navarro on the third goal, even if he didn't get an official assist.
• Holding dodged a second yellow right before he was subbed off, but given that the first yellow was weak sending him for the second would have been harsh.
• In an otherwise strong night Navarro right after that should have picked up a second yellow and was very lucky he didn't.  I think he's a better start than Travis but he can't make that mistake again.
• Colorado applied the coup de grace with pressure leading to a quick turnover and a through ball to Navarro that he crossed to Aaronson for the strike.  Good, aggressive, play late in a a game that you're winning.  A great attitude to see.
• Colorado is now beating the teams they should (Portland and SKC), being competitive (ish) against teams that they aren't expected to beat (Seattle, NTCFC0, and taking advantage of mistakes when better teams make them (Galaxy).  That may not be a "win MLS Cup" combo but it is a "make the playoffs and be a tough out" combo, which is better than I expected going into the season.
• Sealy is lucky he got the assist from the corner on the second goal because otherwise he was the black mark on the night.  We're still struggling to find the other winger across from Yapi.
• Colorado goes into the break in a good position, right on the "win at home, draw on the road" point total of 9.  Coming out they've got a trip to Toronto and then finally back at home against Houston before the 30th anniversary Inter Messi match.

Man of the Match: Paxten Aaronson.  The week after I complained we should put a BOLO out on him he gets two goals and an assist.  Navarro had a great match too but Aaronson had his best day in burgundy (or green) so far and its what we need from him.

Quick SKC Preview

Ok, this is going to be quick and dirty.  The shingles vaccine has knocked me out for about 24 hours.

Steffen is back, presumably will start.  Ronan and Cannon are not available.

SKC is not a good team.  They're averaging 1 goal a game, in the form of two games where they've scored twice and two games where they've been shut out.  They got their first win last week in LA against the Galaxy.

If Wells' system is going to work this is a game you have to get a result from.  Combined with next week's game in Toronto you want at least 2 points and really you want 4.

1-1 draw, goal by Yapi.  I'm not yet willing to predict a win on the road for this group, but it wouldn't surprise me.  You can't call this a must win in game 5, but a loss here would be fairly disastrous for the goals this season.  I think we get a draw at least though.

Play The Rocky Mountain Cup In Laramie

 

Today Major League Soccer announced the details of the 'sprint season' being played in the spring of 2027 as the league transitions to the fall-to-spring schedule starting in the fall of 2027.  The basics are:

• 14 games against the 14 other teams in your conference, 7 home, 7 away
• Regular season played February-April
• 8 teams from each conference make the playoffs
• Playoffs are single-game knockouts played inside your conference in May
• MLS Cup between the Western and Eastern Conference playoff winners
• MLS Cup winner and 4 other teams qualify for 2028 CONCACAF Champions Cup
• All 16 playoff teams qualify for 2028 Leagues Cup

When I saw the sprint season was going to be 14 games I was pretty sure it was all going to be intra-conference.  What this means though is that the sprint season Rocky Mountain Cup is going to be decide on one game, and either the Rapids or FSL will have home field advantage for that game.

Unless they don't.

I immediately joked when the announcement came out that they should play that game at Ralph Stocker Stadium in Grand Junction.  Its almost exactly midway between KKK Slogan field in Sandy and the Dick in Commerce City.  It currently hosts NCAA DII football for the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks.  The reality is though it probably doesn't meet stadium requirements for the league or the union, it only seats 8000, and its probably not equipped for a full broadcast on Apple.  Its a funny idea but for any number of reasons its not realistic.

But then I thought a little more about it and realized there is a stadium that could host a MLS match as a "neutral site".  War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Wyoming, home of the Wyoming Cowboys.  As a G5 school I'm sure the facilities are good enough to pass muster with the league and union for a one off game, and their football games are regularly broadcast from there as part of the Mountain West Conference so I'm sure it could handle an Apple broadcast.

Yeah, this sounds a little silly at first, but this whole 'sprint season' is a little silly.  Why not try something different during it?  Make it an event.  Has the state of Wyoming ever hosted a top-level professional competitive match in a team sport?  Certainly they've never hosted a competitive soccer match.  Work with the league to promote this as reaching out to new fans, not to mention the whole college population of the University of Wyoming.  Baseball has had success with their single game Field of Dreams and Little League games each season, this could be a (non-repeating) version of that.

Plus, imagine playing the Rocky Mountain Cup at the highest stadium in the country.  Its a perfect match.  Yes, its closer for Rapids fans (a little over 2 hours from Commerce City versus a little under 6 from Sandy) but not so far that I would expect Salt Lake fans not to make the trip.  One team would be giving up a home game, but if they do it right you can split the revenue equally and minimize that hit, or maybe even favor whomever is losing the home game.  Give supporters groups from both sides their regular seats behind each goal and make a true production out of it.

Will this happen?  Probably not.  Neither owner seems like somebody who would push this and I'm not sure the league would be all that excited, but if the fans get behind it and make it something they need to consider we might see something happen.