Who Could Ask For Anything Moor?

The Rapids pulled out a big win on Saturday night, beating the second best team in the league while down a man. Drew Moor had the game winner int he last 10 minutes after a contentious second half led to a red card for Pablo Mastroeni,

I don't have much to say about the first half. Unfortunately my office texted me with a website issue right as the game started and I spent a good chunk of the first half texting people about it, in between watching snippets of the game. What I saw looked like the Rapids controlled much of the play, but couldn't generate great chances.

In the second half Colorado continued to pressure the Crew, taking advantage of the altitude against a team who had already played this week. The game changed in the 76th minute after Mastroeni saw red (more on this below) and the team seemed to be satisfied to get a 0-0 draw. A good chance was generated when Cummings was fouled outside the box. Jamie Smith stepped up to float the free kick in and Drew Moor got over his man to head the game winner home. After that the Rapids just had to shut the Crew down for about 10 minutes and they claimed the 3 points.

There were three big calls from the ref in this game and none of them were nailed dead on in my opinion. In the first half Cummings went down in the box, a bit of a dive, and Casey complained to the ref about it. In the process Casey put his elbow up to the ref to demonstrate what the Crew player had done from Casey's POV. In the process Casey made contact with the ref with his elbow. Technically a yellow card, but Casey was demonstrating something and not aggressively making contact with the ref. I think that's something the ref should have let go, instead he immediately produced a yellow card after being touched.

In the second half Casey committed a bad tackle in the Rapids offensive end. It was pretty obviously a yellow card. The ref gave him a warning. I think that the ref felt that sending Casey off for a second yellow after the weak first yellow was a bit unfair, but it really was pretty close to a textbook yellow. Casey was lucky to stay on the field.

The big call was the red card. Pablo was fouled and taken to the turf by Lenhart. After the whistle was blown for the foul Lenhart kicked the ball directly at Pablo on the ground, not very hard, but it was obviously intentional. Pablo, incensed by being hit by the ball, lunged at Lenhart from the ground, making contact with an open hand on his leg and swinging and missing with either his other open hand or fist. The ref immediately appeared to show Lenhart a red and then a yellow card. Once the confusion got sorted out we found out the red was intended for Pablo. Honestly I'm not sure Pablo's lunge was red-worthy, but it could have gone either way. What was clear to me though is that both players struck the other after the whistle, one with is hand and/or fist, and one with the ball. to me that merits equal punishment. Giving Pablo a red and Lenhart a yellow was not the right call. Pablo made things worse by going ape-$hit and refusing to leave the field, which will probably result in an additional game suspension.

My key to the game was GBS vs. Pablo. Schelotto had one good chance that he shanked, otherwise he was fairly quiet all game. Obviously Pablo had a significant impact ont he game though.

Other Observations:

• The Rapids are now up to 3rd in pts/game, behind only LA and Columbus.
  
• Very good move by Gary Smith in subbing Casey off when he did. He had just escaped a second yellow and I think any questionable foul the rest of the game would have gotten him that card.
• Good to see Jamie Smith get back to playing.
• Of course the week I finally decide that Wells Thompson is now the starter on the left, Clark gets the starting spot back. Good move though.
• One of the thins I missed int eh first half was Baudet and Pickens having a shouting match. I have no idea why, but we pitched a shutout so it couldn't have been too disastrous.
• hopefully Baudet's limp wasn't an indicator of a worse injury.
• Danny Earls still seemed a bit off in this game. Hopefully he can get out of this funk soon.
• Cummings still seems to not be able to put the final touch on his play. He has great ideas, but the final pass or shot to get them there doesn't happen.

Player of the Game: Drew Moor. I was already leaning towards giving him the MOTM award based on his defensive play and keeping the Crew quiet. Once he scored the goal though, it was an easy choice.

Village People Alert!

Our favorite 70s band, er I mean the Columbus Crew, are in town tomorrow night for the last home game before the World Cup break. The Crew is flying high in the East, and this may be the toughest home game left on the schedule since LA has already visited. Lucky for us, Columbus played in San Jose on Wednesday night, so hopefully they'll run out of gas before the end of the game. Game time is 7pm, and as always the tailgate will be in the East VIP lot at 5.

Injury Report:

OUT: DF Kosuke Kimura (L ankle stress fracture); MF Ciaran O'Brien (L hip sprain); FW Ross Schunk (R ACL tear); PROBABLE: DF Julien Baudet (L knee strain); MF Jamie Smith (R hamstring strain)

Columbs only has two players listed as out for this game so they are almost at full strength. The Rapids lineup has been fairly settled as of late and I don't expect many changes:

Pickens

Wynne - Moor - Baudet - Earls

Pablo - Larentowicz

Cummings - Ballouchy - Thompson

Casey

I don't understand why Thompson is starting over Clark, but I assume its going to continue. The other 10 spots seem pretty locked in at this point.

Key To Look For: Guillermo Barros Schelotto vs. Pablo. GBS is one of, if not the best, playmaker in MLS and the Columbus offense runs through him. If Pablo can contain him it will greatly reduce the Crew's chances of winning the game.

Prediction: 1-1 draw, goal by Conor Casey. I don't think we can keep Columbus off the scoreboard, and I don't think our offense can score more than one goal. A draw seems to be the way to go. With Columbus' midweek game and playing at altitude I wouldn't be shocked to see us sneak a winner late, but a draw feels more likely. I think Casey will continue his resurgence in play and get on the scoreboard again.

Full House Sees Rapids Get Full 3 Points

In front of a packed house on Saturday night the Rapids got their first MLS win over the Sounders. Colorado controlled the play, but once again had a hard time finishing until a beautiful goal from Conor Casey. On the defensive end, a combination of poor shooting and good defense kept Pickens from having to do much. He had one big save to make, and the defense had a couple of breakaways to clamp down on, but the Rapids had the better of the game. Colorado out-shot the Sounders 10 to 9 and on goal 5-1. Keller had a big night, denying 2-3 close-range headers from the Rapids. He was caught out of position on the goal though.

There were 2 plays that were somewhat controversial in the eyes of Sounders fans. On the goal Jeff Parke and Conor Casey got tied up and Casey used his momentum and size to push through Parke. Could have been a foul on Casey, could have been an obstruction foul on Parke, the ref didn't call either and let the play continue which allowed Casey to score. I think any decision would have been a decent call, but obviously I think the ref made the right choice. Shortly after the goal there were appeals for a handball on the Rapids in the box. On replay I see another case where it was borderline. Cummings had his hand extended from his body, having just completed a 180 spin to get in front of the defender. His arm was out for balance, so it wasn't an "unnatural playing position" but the ball clearly hit him on the arm. It came from right in front of him, so he had no time to react to the ball. Cummings was standing right on the edge of the box, so I think a PK in this situation would have been harsh, but a call of a handball just outside the box probably would have been an OK call, even if the ref was fudging just a bit on the location.

My key to the game was Freddy Ljungberg vs. Pablo. I predicted that a couple of hard, but legal, fouls would get Freddy out of his game and complaining to the ref. Sure enough, Ljungberg did start whining and picked up a yellow for dissent (Pablo also got a yellow for dissent, as did Casey). By the end of the game Freddy was stomping around the field yelling at everyone and calling other Sounders off of free kicks to take them, badly, himself.

Other Observations:

• With the win the Rapids are tied for 4th in pts/game in the league.
  
• Cummings had an off night. He had great ideas, but his final touch couldn't quite execute them.
• I don't understand why Thompson is starting over Clark. One reader of the blog has said he doesn't think Clark is at 100%, but he does as much as Thompson is doing and at least I have the belief that Clark will rise to the next level, which I don't see Thompson doing.
• With the exception of the yellow for dissent, Pablo had a great game. He really neutralized anything coming through the middle.
• Drew Moor bounced back from his awful USOC game with a solid play in this game.
• Danny Earls struggled in this game. His defense was not great and offensively he seemed to be on a different page than everyone else.
• Great crowd. Only the 9th sell-out in the history of the Dick.

Player of the Game: Marvell Wynne. He did a outstanding job of covering his defensive responsibilities while getting into the attack. His overlap with Cummings kept Seattle on its toes.

Home Town vs. Current Town

35 plus years ago I was born in Seattle, and I lived in the greater Seattle area for the first 28 and a half years of my life. Alas, when MLS started Seattle didn't get a team, local boys Chris Henderson and Marcus Hahnemann went to Colorado, and thus I'm a Rapids fan. Now I live in Denver.

Tomorrow, my tow cities face off at the Dick. The Rapids have yet to beat the MLS version of the Sounders in either the league or Open Cup play. Kickoff is a 7pm, with the Supporters Group tailgate starting in the West lot (new location for this game only)at 5pm.

Injury Report:

OUT: DF Kosuke Kimura (L ankle stress fracture); MF Ciaran O'Brien (L hip sprain); FW Ross Schunk (R ACL tear); DOUBTFUL: None; QUESTIONABLE: DF Julien Baudet (L knee sprain); MF Jamie Smith (R hamstring strain); PROBABLE: DF Scott Palguta (L calf strain)

DC has 6 players out or questionable, including two of their better defenders. Having Koz, Baudet, and Palguta on the injury list is a bit of a concern, if none of them can start it leaves our back line very thin. I'm going to guess that Baudet is good enough to play, since he played the full game on Wednesday, but if none of them can go we're looking at Holody or something. My lineup guess:

Pickens

Wynne - Moor - Baudet - Earls

Pablo - Larentowicz

Cummings - Ballouchy - Clark

Casey

I really hope Clark has won the left back spot from Thompson, because Wells hasn't looked great the last couple of games. If Baudet isn't available though, we might see something like a 3-6-1 with Thompson or Moor taking the extra spot in midfield.

Key To Look For: Freddy Ljungberg vs. Pablo. Ljungberg has lost focus this year, spending more time complaining to the officials than playing. If Pablo can get in a couple of hard but legal tackles on Freddy early in the game he'll probably go down the same road, which will take away the Sounders midfield general.

Prediction: 2-0 win, goals by Conor Casey and Omar Cummings. Seattle's offense has been woeful this season, and I think our defense can finally get back-to-back shutouts. Seattle's defense has big gaps due to injury and I think the Dynamic Duo will take advantage.

Thanks, That Was Fun

The Rapids defense decided to take the night off, and combined with our B offense (Amarikwa as a lone striker) the Rapids bowed out of the USOC before actually making it to the full competition by losing 3-0 to NY's reserve squad. This is the third year in a row the Rapids have lost in the final play-in game, so that's one more trophy we can't win. Drew Moor had an awful game, seemingly marking nobody on the first two goals and the unmarked man scored both, then losing the ball in a dangerous spot that let the Red Bulls player waltz right into goal on the third.

On to the league match on Saturday. Resting the likes of Casey, Pablo, Pickens, and 'Cummings (for all but 20 minutes) better have been worth it.