Another Garbage Road Game

Ugh, I really thought this would be the game where we got something figured out on the road but nope, we looked worse than we did in San Diego.  I'm not going to spend much of any time analyzing this one, its just garbage from start to finish.  Two things about the game I do want to mention though.

• The corner kick that led to the first Columbus goal appeared to be offside, so much so the color commentator kept harping on it during the game.  It wasn't.  It was almost the textbook definition of passive offside, which is not to be called in the current offside interpretation.  Calling offside is not just about the position of the player, that player must actively be involved in play too.  The cross that Holding intercepted and flubbed out for a corner wasn't close enough to any Columbus player to be played by them, nor was Holding close enough to any Crew attacker to be interfered with.  Thus the offside players were passively offside and the flag should not have gone up (and didn't).
  
  If you want to argue that's a stupid way to interpret the rule and it penalizes defenders playing it safe, I'd agree with you.  But that's the rule as FIFA and the IFAB want it enforced right now.
  
  
• Our subs in this game were Kosi Thompson, Reggie Cannon, Alex Harris, Donovan Phillip, and Keegan Rosenberry.  Three right-backs and two rookie midfielder when down a goal.  That shows you how thin this roster is while we wait for visas.  I said it last week that this was a hell of a transfer window from the Rapids, but you have to wonder of the FO could have gotten one or two of the deals done before the final day so that this team isn't so weakened for the next week or two.  If we lose the USOC semi or miss the playoffs by a few points it puts pressure on the signings to really deliver in the sprint season and the 27-28 season to make up for what the moves cost us this season.

That's it for the game.  Now lets talk about the season.  Burgundy Wave made some good points today on Burgundy Sky that should be repeated here.  The Rapids have one draw this season, the 0-0 at LAFC.  They have 10 wins.  In every one of them they scored the first goal.  They have 12 losses.  In 10 of them they gave up the first goal, then you had the game in Toronto where they scored first but had two red cards and lost, and then you have the Sandy curse where we scored first and loss, as we always seem to do in Utah.

Essentially the Rapids are a team that wins when they score first unless something unusual happens and lose when they concede first.  The last time we won a league game after giving up the first goal was over two years ago, our trip to Dallas on August 31st, 2024 where we won 3-2 on a stoppage time winner from Yapi after giving up a goal in the first 10 minutes.  That's not a great streak to be on.

Wells needs to get us mentally locked in on the road and when we go down a goal.  That's the challenge for the rest of the season now.

Man of the Match: Miguel Navarro.  Unlike the rest of the team he kept fighting after going down.

Kings Of The Rockies, Again

 

Colorado didn't let the hubub around Rafa distract them from the goal on Saturday, and led by Navarro himself put FSL to the sword in a 1-0 win and retained the Rocky Mountain Cup on the tiebreaker.  The Rapids made it difficult on themselves because their inability to score continued and they had to make the single goal hold up late, but the job was done.  It probably wasn't as hard as it felt like to the fans given the intensity of the rivalry and the number of times we've had our heart broken in the past.  The final xG was 1.6 to 0.14 and FSL didn't have a shot on target, but for the 20 minutes after we took the lead it certainly felt like the opposition was just a half step from levelling it.

Shout outs go to the whole team, everything stepped it up for this one.  Ironically the "worst" player in the starting lineup based on FotMob ratings turned out to be Rafa but I don't think anyone thinks he played poorly.  Everyone was just on their game.  I have to give particular credit to Minoungou who I've been less than impressed with up to this point.  His final passes and shots were finally finding the right spots.  Sometimes, ball not go in though.

Ojediran was rightfully called out for his excellent play and on another night with less on the line probably would have been MotM.  He's where FSL attacks went to die.  Adam Beaudry was left with almost nothing to do in his emergency start, even his big save on almost the final touch of the game turned out to be unnecessary as the FSL attacker was flagged for offside.  Hell of a save though.  Also the new guy, Maziz, understood the assignment.  After providing the winning assist on the goal kick in front of the travelling fans he turned and gave them a look that said what we were all thinking. 

If I had one complaint it was that playing it out of the back as much as we did with a backup keeper was a bit scary.  There were moments that didn't look as sure as Hansen has made them look.

After the game Rafa was serenaded by C38 and also given a sendoff by his teammates.  Its not official yet but like with the Herrington deal the team knows he's gone.  He clearly was having mixed emotions about leaving, he loves the fans and his teammates, but if the club doesn't want to give him the contract he wants he has to do what's right for him.  I can't blame him, though I do with the FO had waited to the offseason, even for a smaller fee.

The first team was followed up by a 1-0 win by the Unified Team over their Salt Lake counterparts on a final minute banger.  That allowed them to win the Unified Rocky Mountain Cup.  Rapids 2 also won their season series over Real Monarchs which means all three Rapids clubs beat their Utah rivals this season.  Kings (and Queens) of the Mountains indeed.

Man of the Match: Reggie Cannon.  You get the goal that wins the Cup, you get Man of the Match.  Simple.

Colorado Embarrassed In San Diego

We're not going to spend much time on this one.  The Rapids laid a huge egg in SAn Diego, which seems typical for them this season.  They get on a small run at home, things start going the right way, then a road trip and bam, everything falls apart.  In this case it WAs Rob Holding who had the worst game from a Rapids defender in many, many years.  Directly or partially responsible for all three goals scored against us, including another mishandled backpass.  That's becoming a serious concern in a system where Wells encourages playing it around the back.

The offense wasn't any better as the manager reverted to his preferred 4-5-1 formation with Sealy and Minoungou on the wings, with predictably bad results.  Sealy was noticeably a hole where attacks went to die.  The Rapids spent $3.9 million in GAM on the two wingers and they've been severely disappointing this season.  They would have been better off spending $4M on a new scoreboard.  There's 9 days left in the transfer window and we need attacking reinforcements.

There's only one thing to do after this, pick ourselves up and win the Rocky Mountain Cup at home on Saturday.  The silver lining is that nobody picked up a yellow card that got them suspended for the match.  But they need to put this game behind them and move on ASAP.

Man of the Match: Nico Hansen.  Not at fault for any of the goals and came up with a couple of saves to keep it from getting worse.

Rapids Continue Home Dominance

 

Colorado controlled the game last night and once again did enough to get the three points and the shutout.  LAFC rolled out a rotated lineup, either because they were cocky or because they just needed to get some guys some rest but either way it did not work.  The first half was largely controlled by the home side, especially after the first 10 minutes, and LAFC could only put one shot on goal, from 20+ yards out.

Meanwhile on the other end of the field the burgundy boys were finding their chances.  The Rapids had four shots on goal in the first half, plus a penalty kick (more on that later).  It took a little help to break through though as a free kick from Maziz was redirected and handcuffed the LAFC keeper.  Officially it went down as an own goal but I thought the shot was on target before the redirection.  Late in the half the Rapids earned a PK and Rafa stepped up to move into 2nd place )tied) on the Rapids all-time scoring list...and was stoned by the 22 year old in his first ever MLS start.  Nto great.

The second half was a little more balanced with LAFC trying to find an equalizer but getting stuffed at every attempt.  Finally LAFC gave in and put Son and Bouanga in and the Rapids played the last 10-15 on the book foot just trying to survive.  The good news is that despite the step up in skill LAFC did not have a step up in ideas.  They were dangerous but never really got close to breaking through, with only one shot on target and that was from 20+ yards too.  The team held out and got the three points.

A great win over a good team and it continued our home winning and shutout streak, both to 4 games.  We still haven't given up a goal with 11 on the field since the World Cup break (the only one being when we were down a man in St. Louis).  On the down side we've still only scored one goal from the run of play when playing against 11 men since the break (PK, free kick last night, and two against shorthanded KC).  But a win is a win and that's 4 out of 5 moving us up to 8th on PPG.  If the playoffs started today we'd host Portland.

Random Thoughts:

• Maziz has only played about ~75 minutes but so far so small sample size and all that but he looks like he belongs.  Could this be three good international signings in a row? (Herrington, Williams, Maziz)
• Also I was hard on Cannon earlier this season but the last two games he's "eaten his Wheaties" as the Pope of Commerce City put it.  With the good play by Miguel Navarrro on the other side we might have a settled back line.
• Nico Hansen has ensured that Steffen won't play in burgundy again, barring a late-season comeback to cover for Nico being injured.
• Rafa needs to be done with PKs.  He's too inconsistent.
• The team got worse putting Sealy and Minoungou in.  I know the goal was a two winger formation, but we don't have the players for it.
• Maziz has also made Aaronson better, again in small minutes.  It allows him to play his more natural defensive 8.
• Yapi and Thompson join Rafa and Ojediran in being on yellow card watch going into the game on Saturday.  Picking up a card in Saturday means they'll be suspended for the Rocky Mountain Cup.
• Miguel Navarro took an elbow to the head forcing him to be subbed due to concussion concerns late.  Lets hope that's not a long-term injury.
• By the end of the game we were playing a 6-man back line.  Whatever it takes.

Man of the Match: Hamzet Ojediran.  He was a beast in midfield snuffing everything out and feeding Paxten and Maziz.  Then late in the game he sacrificed his ankle to block a shot, got up, hobbled over to make the play, cleared the ball, then went back down in a heap and was subbed off.  Wells suggested that the oinjury wasn't too bad, but gving him the weekend off might be a good thing.

Colorado Does What It Needed To

A solid, if maybe unconvincing, win in Commerce City Saturday night is what the Rapids needed entering this 3 game week.  SKC made it easier by putting up a red card in each half but even before the first Colorado looked like the better team.  That said, it wasn't all easy, a former Rapid had two good chances to put SKC on the scoreboard, but Calvin Harris couldn't quite reach the end of a perfect cross, then put a breakaway off the post.  Part of the reason he's no longer in Colorado.

With the win the Rapids would be in the last playoff spot if the season ended today, with a wild card game in Seattle.  They are dead on the Bodmer Line at 1.32 PPG, putting us on track for the exact average point total (44-45) for the last playoff spot.

The reason this game wasn't that convincing is that the Rapids still struggled to find the final shot.  28 shots, 7 big chances, only 4 shots on target (1 off the bar too).  2 of them went in, which is great, but up an man they managed only two shots on goal, and up two men they only managed one (Rafa's goal).  That's actually half as many as they had against Austin two weeks ago 11v11.  14 shots on target in the 4 games since we've been back is still something that needs to be fixed.

Still, a win is a win and 3 wins in 3 at home is a great set of results.  We're doing what we need to when we need to.  Only one goal allowed since the break too.  It does leave us in a spot where writing off the rest of the league season to focus on the Cups would be absurd, but going all in on the playoff run is unlikely to pay off with significantly improved odds.  So it continues to be a balancing act.

Another positive sign from this game was the assists on both goals.  On the first our new signing, Youssef Maziz, dropped a great corner kick right on to Cannon's head.  If he can bring a Jack Price-esque style to our set pieces that would be a good addition.  Maziz looked good during his play from the field as well.  On the second goal Aaronson made a nice move and put a cross actually in the est place it could go, slightly behind Rafa, which allowed Navarro to spin, receive the ball, and then spin back with time to pick his spot.  If Youssef can unlock Paxten that's w win.

Also that goal tied Rafa with Diego Rubio with 38 goals all-time (regular season matches), 4th on the all-time list.  Next up is a tie for 2nd between Omar Cummings and Paul Bravo at 39.  Presumably he gets to and passes that this season, barring injury.  Then its a jump up to Conor Casey on the top of the record book at 50.

Next up is a tough one, LAFC at home on short rest.  Then a trip out to SoCal to play San Diego before a week off before the Rocky Mountain Cup.  Beating FSL is a must but getting one point out of the other two games would be acceptable, more than that would be a good step into showing we're improving from what we've been.

Man of the Match: Reggie Cannon.  Scored the first goal, drew the second red card, and overall was active and involved in a way we hadn't seen for a while.  Right back hasn't been fully locked down this seasons, maybe this is a step towards really claiming it again.

Stats Say Good, Eye Test Says Bad

 

Saturday night was a rough watch.  Colorado had pretty much all the play.  64% possession.  Eleven corners to none.  50 touches in the box to 8.  5 big chances to 1.  At no point did it feel like Austin was going to score unless they got lucky on a free kick or got a weird deflection on a ball.

The problem is that it didn't feel like the Rapids were going to score either.  Only one of those "big chances" really felt dangerous, and that was in a scrum in the box in the first few minutes of the game.  Otherwise it was the same going through the motions that we've seen for a few games.  The Rapids did create more chances than they have been, but there was still a dearth of good final passes to set up good shots.

The last minute PK was a gift from Austin, as there was no way we were going to score on our own in this one.  Rafa did a great job burying it, it seems like his PK issues are behind him now that he's stopped the stutter-step.  But it felt more like 2 points stolen than a win we truly deserved, even if the stats said otherwise.

This is now 10 league games in a row without scoring more than one goal, that most in a single season since a 12 game stretch in late spring/early summer 2015.  The fact that we've gotten 6 points in 3 games out of the World Cup break while only scoring 2 goals is a testament to our defense, and the (lack of) quality of our opponents.  Of course our defense is going to take a serious hit this week with the sale of Herrington (more on that later this week when it becomes official).

The Rapids get a week off with the Leagues Cup weekend, and will be back hope playing last-place KC on the 15th.  A must win, and a must win convincingly, sort of game for them.

Man of the Match: Loic Williams.  Stepped in for the suspended Holding and was nice and smooth holding down that left center back spot.  One he's going to be starting in the rest of the season now.  While the Rapids struggle to fill other positions they seem to have a nose for center backs.

Deja Vu

Another game against St. Louis, another Holding red card, another 1-0 loss, another Miguel Navarro man of the match performance.  If you watched the game in May at the Dick you largely saw this game in St, Louis.  It was not good.  The main differences is that the red card this time was fully justified, a bad pass back from Yapi that Holding tried to control instead of clear and it all went sideways.

Rather than spending any more time on the game with not much to talk about we're going to take a look at where we are.  Its the midpoint of the season (17 games) and we're 3 points behind either of the Chris Armas seasons.  Now, as I pointed out in June, the schedule has not bee friendly to us but the last two games have been against weaker opposition and we've been 1-1, with one goal scored and one allowed.  This is not us stepping up our game.

We've now gone 9 games scoring 0 or 1 goals.  That's the longest single season streak since 2017 where Pablo's last game in charge kicked off a 12 game run of 0's or 1's.  (Between 2023 and 2024 we went 10 games, 3 in '23 and 7 in '24, with 0-1 goals).  The last time we put two past the opposing keeper was when Messi was in town.  This team has not come from behind to take the lead in a game this season.

Meanwhile apparently Wells "exchanged words" with the St. Louis coaching staff after the game.  This one confuses me as I can't think of anything StL did during the game that the coaching staff should be that upset about.  This is a pattern developing though where Wells goes off on the refs or the other coaching staff or something when the Rapids struggle.  It makes me start to wonder if that's his response to not having answers which, isn't great.

What we seem to have is a team bereft of offensive ideas that's slowly sinking down the table.  They're compensating for that by being at the top of the fouls and cards list (though also at the top of the fouls suffered) list and the manager is all in on the strategy.  The next two games are at home against the teams and the bottom of the Western conference.  They are both must wins, and they need to be must wins where we're clearly in control and are clearly winning the game.  If that doesn't happen its hard to see how this season goes anywhere.

Man of the Match: Miguel Navarro.  Picked ip an injury in training so didn't start, but was pressed into service after the 12th minute red card.  Shortly after entering he seemed to dislocate his finger and calmly let the training staff pop it back into place, then went out and finished the game with a strong performance.

It Was The Best Of Times, It Was The Worst Of Times

Last night the Rapids looked like world beaters in the defensive third and midfield.  Then they looked like the world was beating on them in the attacking third.  For most of the game they held San Diego without a shot, much less any danger or xG.  San Diego didn't get their first shot until the 64th minute, but suddenly by the 69th minute they had more shots on target and more xG than the Rapids.  

That's how it was going for the home side in the attacking third.  Their best shot for most of the night came in the 9th minute and it was right against the near post, so depending on which stats you read it may not have even counted as a shot on target.  Their second one was in the 96th minute, and lucky for the us, it went in.  Colorado escaped with a 1-0 win that they both did not deserve and absolutely deserved.

The first half press looked as good as anything we saw this season.  San Diego didn't really get a controlled touch in the Rapids box until the second half.  Even in the second half it was really an 7 minute period from the 64th to the 71st where San Diego looked at all dangerous, outside of that they had two shots that were blocked with a combined total of 0.06 xG.  There was even a point where the Rapids press had won the ball right at midfield and Holding was just standing on the ball and San Diego had no energy to press him so a few seconds went by of everyone just not moving.

The problem came every time Colorado got near San Diego's box.  Great passing up to that point but they could not find a way through.  Navarro was a non-entity in this game, Minoungou kept dribbling into blind alleys, and Aaronson was more interested in passing than shooting.  There were 2-3 chances where Paxten needed to just shoot at goal and instead tried a cross pass three players or tried to dribble for a better opening, or otherwise let the opportunity go by him.  Frustrating from the $8M man.  The two times we broke through and put the ball in the net they were both, correctly, called back for offside.

Late in the match Cannon, after an iffy night for him (he was responsible for the offside that disallowed one of the goals, among other tings), was lucky not to be called for a PK.  Chris Penso was sent to the VAR monitor but returned with a no foul call.  I think that was the correct call because the PK foul was not 'clear and obvious' IMO and probably should not have been sent down.  However it was close enough that had Penson called it in real time I would have said the same thing about VAR calling down to overturn it, as it would not be clear and obviously wrong.

Finally, deep into stoppage time Aaronson got behind .the San Diego line and sent in a bit of a desperation cross to the center of the box.  Waiting there just happened to be the new guy, Loic Williams, who half volleyed a bouncer to the far post that took a slight deflection as well.  It wasn't pretty but the only goal of the match in the final minute doesn't need to be.  A great opener for him (he got the start and played all 90) and settled in well.  Its too early to really judge but the initial returns looked like we have a legitimate third starter at center back.

Speaking of which, Herrington mostly got the night off on his return from the World Cup, just having a cameo appearance in stoppage time.  I thought that was a bit odd given that he only made two appearances in the World Cup, but we do have a game on Sunday and then he's off to Charlotte as the only Rapid in the All-Star Game, so probably good load management for him.

This was a good three points for the Rapids, but it showed that we are still struggling to turn possession into dangerous chances.  I was hoping Wells could work on that over the break but it looked much like our pre-break games, just with a better press. Five of our next six games are winnable if we figure this out, but if we don't the season is all but done.

Man of the Match: Nico Hansen.  I mentioned the two shots on target at the beginning but the first one was a very dangerous attack that Hansen managed to just get a touch on and send over the bar, and the second was also a good save.  Without his efforts Williams' goal doesn't matter.

Everyone Needs Two Months Off

Saturday night was ugly.  Its clear everyone, the players, the coaches, and even the fans, needs some time off.  18 games in 90 days works out to a game every 5 days and this team looks exactly like a team that's gone through a gauntlet like that.  Not only that, but only 4 of the 15 league games in that time were against teams who are currently not in a playoff position, and 9 of the 15 were on the road.

In this game Dallas only had 3 touches in the box, and won 2-1.  Two stupid fouls led to two penalty kicks and that's all Dallas needed.  Were the fouls soft?  Yes, absolutely, especially the second one.  Was their contact ?  Yes, in both cases.  They did not need to be PKs, but they weren't, technically, wrong.

But more important than being soft they were completely unnecessary.  On the first the back line has any danger handled.  Then Aaronson tries to make a defensive play at the top of the box, misses the ball, and catches the foot of the Dallas attacker.  Dallas' player goes down like he was shot (no, that's not a JFK reference) but the reality is that if Paxten doesn't make the challenge Herrington is in a perfect spot to step up and snuff out any danger.  Likewise on the second call the Dallas attacker is actually dribbling backwards and Georgi flies by, sticks his leg out to make a challenge, again gets nothing but the lightest touch on the attacker (who again drops like he's shot), and its another penalty.  If Minoungou does nothing the Dallas attacker is taking the ball back to a less dangerous position.

These kind of mental errors happened elsewhere as well.  Miguel Navarro is one yellow from suspension and in the 70th minute just lined up a Dallas player looking at a long ball and took him down with a shoulder charge.  Easy yellow and now he sits for the first game back.  Then in the 88th minute he does it again (though not quite as hard).  You can see the ref think about going for a second yellow and then deciding otherwise but it would have been justified.

That wasn't even the worst of it though.  In the 87th minute, after being subbed off and sitting on the bench, Frederick along with a couple of other players were haranguing the Assistant Referee about time-wasting by Dallas (which they were doing).  He obviously said something because either the AR or the 4th Official (who had come in to break things up) summoned the center cover and he was holding out his yellow card on the jog.  When he got over to Wayne though Frederick obviously said something way over the line because he demonstratively pulled his red card out and showed Frederick the door.  Wayne clapped him on the way off, which is just throwing more fuel on the fire.  So he's out too when we come back from the break.

Oh, and you noticed I haven't named the ref.  It was Ismail Elfath.  I point this out because he's the top name on CONCACAF's referee list and going into the World Cup has a real shot to be the center ref for the World Cup Final.  There's no guarantee of course.  He has to have a good World Cup. the right teams need to advance (or not advance) and there's always politics involved..  But it would be a big surprise to see him not work at least a quarterfinal and probably at least a semifinal.  Obviously every ref can have bad days and I thought his handling of things wasn't as good as I've seen in the past, but do these guys really think they can hide obvious fouls from a ref of his level?  That complaining to a center like Elfath is going to get them anything but a card?

These guys are making dumb mental errors and its costing them.  Of course, Matt Wells wasn't on the sideline for this one because of the number of cards the coaching staff has already gotten this season.  So maybe a better example needs to be set.  Colorado has a rep in this league now, averaging 14 fouls a game and a staff that's mouthy.  That's something they're stuck with and will have to adjust to going forward.  Good teams don't put refs in a position to beat them.  The Rapids are not a good team right now.

Man of the Match: Rob Holding.  I had a hard time picking somebody this game.  The guys that combined for a gorgeous goal were the guy who got stupidly red carded from the bench and the two guys who gave up unnecessary PKs.  So I went with Holding both to represent the good job the defense did in keeping Dallas from doing anything dangerous outside of the PKs but also because he had the initial line-splitting pass to spring the attack that led to the goal.

A note about what's coming here over this two month break.  I've got a new book review for you later this week, and then we're going to circle back to the salary drop from last week and merge that into a mid-season review.  I'm going to try to take a small break over the next couple of weeks too.  Then as we get into the World Cup itself I'm aiming to do something I don't think anyone else has ever done, an all-time ranking of Rapids kits.  I might drop in some general World Cup thoughts as well, and probably point out a few World Cup kits I like too.

The Streak Is Broken!

Going into last night the Rapids hadn't beaten a MLS team in the Open Cup in 20 years.  They hadn't beat a MLS team in any knockout competition in 10 years*.  Well reset those counters because the Rapids pulled off a bit of an upset with a 2-0 win over San Jose that probably wasn't that close.  Goals right before half from Yapi and Navarro held up in what was a sluggish second half and we're on to the semifinals for the third time in our history and first time since the Miami team were still called the Fusion (1999).

* - The Rapids got 3rd place in the Leagues Cup after facing Philly in that game, but technically that game was recorded as a draw with Kicks From the Mark deciding who got 3rd place and the CCC spot

Early on Hansen came up with a big double-save to keep things scoreless though I'm not sure the first one was going in and I'm not sure how much he knew about the second one (which was very much on target and hit him in the shoulder) but after the first 15 minutes San Jose went somewhat quiet.  They had possession and corners but couldn't turn them into shots.  Meanwhile Colorado played its way into the game.  Rafa got a goal called back for offside (a call I still don't understand), then in the 39th minute Sealy found Yapi with a cross that he finished for a 1-0 lead.  6 minutes later it was the Earthquakes called for handling in the box and Rafa made it 2-0 heading to the half.

The second half was two tired team but Colorado was at home and had the momentum.  By the time San Jose started finishing shots it was too late and the shots they got weren't dangerous.  Nobody wanted to jinx things but it felt pretty confident the Rapids would see this out and they did.

With the win the Open Cup will be back at the Dick for the semifinal...in September.  Between the World Cup and the Leagues Cup that's the first open spot on the schedule.  September 15th or 16th the Rapids will host St. Louis while Columbus will host Orlando in the semifinals.  The two winners will face off in the final on October 21ist, hosted by the Columbus - Orlando winner.  Looking at the teams and the standings today you have to figure the East semi winner is probably the favorite given the home field advantage (particularly if its Orlando) but the Rapids are the best placed team in the standings of the four.  In fact they're the only one averaging over 1 point a game so far.

One note on the semifinal is that Nico Hansen goes in one yellow from suspension.  Its a long-time and a lot of games between now and September but we'll have to see how that plays into the lineup.  Do you start Hansen with the risk that he could pick up a yellow and be suspended for the final if we win?  Do you start Steffen knowing that Hansen would the be sure of being available for a possible final?  Nico is the only Rapid in this position, barring a red card in the semi everyone else would be available for the final if we get there.

Looking at the schedule in August/September we'll host FSL the last weekend of August, then a week layer we go to Columbus, go to Austin in midweek, and then host Montreal.  Then St. Louis in the semifinal, then we host Seattle on the weekend.  So another run of 5 games in two weeks.  After that there are only 8 games left in the season, and should we make the final it would be ANOTHER 5 games in two weeks where we host San Jose and Minnesota, go to Portland, go to the Final, and go to San Jose.

What this means is that once we get through (and win!) the Rocky Mountain Cup the week before Labor Day we may need to take stock of where we are and our realistic chances to make the playoffs and make any noise there.  If we're barely hanging on to s spot or are on the outside looking in the right play, in my opinion, is to punt on the regular season and go all in on the semifinal.  St. Louis, despite what they did to us a week and a half ago, is not a good team.  We should beat them at home, especially if we rotate the roster to put out a full strength rested side.  Then you're in a final and anything can happen.

This also plays into what moves we might make in the summer window.  If we're being honest, this team is very unlikely to win MLS Cup this year (but so was the 2010 team).  If all we had to play for was the playoffs you could see selling Herrington or Rafa if the right deal came along.  Now?  One game at home we'll likely be favored in from a final?  The Rapids can't sell them without either a loan-back-until-end-of-season option or being 100% absolutely sure they've got a equal or better replacement coming in.  And I mean a "we replaced McMath with Howard in 2016" level sure-thing, not a "we're throwing all the Djordje money at Aaronson as a replacement" move.  Otherwise you explain to Rafa and Lucas that we fully support them taking the next step, but there's no way we can sell them when this team has a shot at its first real success in 16 years.  As soon as this season is over though, we'll get a deal done.

This is already longer than I expected but I've got a couple more things.  First, so we don't end on a negative note, if you watched the broadcast of the game you saw that after Yapi's goal a can was thrown out of C38's section, hitting the San Jose keeper in the head.  This is, very obviously, completely unacceptable.  A combination of C38 leadership, Argus staff, and Commerce City police worked together to identify who threw it.  That person was pulled out of the stands, handcuffed, and escorted out of the stadium by CCPD (and presumably arrested).  Crap like that will not be allowed to stand in our section.

Second, on a better note, I have to tip the cap to Matt Wells.  10 days ago after the St. Louis loss I said tow rite off everything but the Rocky Mountain Cup and the quarterfinal, and I had real doubts about our ability to get either of those done.  Instead he took the team to Minnesota, stole a win, then went into Sandy and at least achieved the bare minimum, which was keeping the damage to a one-goal loss which allows us to win the RMC just by winning our home game.  And he did it by keeping guys enough rested that they were able to come out and control the game last night and get us a somewhat comfortable win.  Now we may collapse in exhaustion on Saturday against Dallas but really, who cares.  He got enough results in the last 3 games that Saturday really doesn't matter.  Any thing there is gravy.

Man of the Match: Darren Yapi.  Lots of choices last night but his well timed goal I think really punctured San Jose's hopes and gave us the belief that maybe was wavering after Rafa's first goal was VARed off.  That set up the second goal before half, at which point San Jose was done.

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.

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.,

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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!

#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.