Short-Handed Rapids Hope To Short Dynamo

 

Water and Electricity Don't Mix

Sorry for the lack of anything but previews/reviews lately.  big project at work finally finished today so I'll hopefully have more brain cycles to dedicate to writing.  Look for a post either tomorrow or early next week about this year's USA Pro Challenge route.

Sunday the Rapids are in Houston to face one half of the former C+C Goal Factory, Omar Cummings, and the rest of the Dynamo.  Tough game right now given our injury situation.  Game time is 3pm MDT and the game is on Altitude in the Denver area and UniMas nationally.  Smaller more localized viewing parties for the first nice weekend of the spring.

Injury Report:

OUT:  DF Diego Calderon (R knee Surgery), MF Jaime Castrillon (R knee surgery), MF Kevin Harbottle (L strained MCL), GK Matt Pickens (L arm fracture); DF Marvell Wynne (R quad strain)
QUESTIONABLE: FW Deshorn Brown (thigh), FW Edson Buddle (lower back pain), MF Pablo Mastroeni (L quad strain), MF Martin Rivero (R foot fracture)

Ineligible:

FW Charles Eloundou - Still waiting on International Transfer Certificate

Please welcome our newest contestant to the Rapids Injury Report, Marvell Wynne!  Ouch.  Pablo and Rivero both traveled with the team and are hopeful to be in the 18 but obviously won't start.  Brown did not travel.  No report either way on Buddle.  Houston has a player suspended, 3 Out, and 3 Questionable.  My guess at the starting XI:

If Buddle can't go we'll probably see Mwanga again, hopefully he's better than last week.  There's some talk that Hill could start over Cascio but I'll believe it when I see it.  I highly doubt Smith starts given Pareja's use of him over the last 40+ games.

Key To Look For: Can we score more than 1?  We've only done it once this season and I think we'll need more than 1 to get a point in Houston.

Prediction: 2-1 loss, goal by Powers.  Houston is too good for this banged up Colorado team.  A long shot from Powers makes it interesting but in the end Houston's quality takes it.

Rapids & Sounders Set MLS Back 5 Years

That was a lousy game to watch as a neutral fan, worse as a Rapids fan.  It probably wasn't very pleasant to watch as a Sounders fan but at least they could celebrate 3 points at the end of the day.  Two teams that were lucky to string 3 passes together wasted 90 minutes on the field.  At the end of the day the difference was that one team (Seattle) followed up a rebound and finished it and one team (Colorado) didn't.  Both teams had 3 shots on goal and 2 great chances.  Colorado hit the crossbar and the woodwork, Seattle hit the crossbar and Irwin saved the second but Martins followed up the rebound to score.  Wynne did a fairly decent job of marking him but slipped when trying to beat Martins to the ball leaving an easy shot for the Seattle DP.

Other than that there's not much to say about this dog of a game.  The sad thing is that the 3 points were there for the taking due to Seattle's poor play, but the disjointedness of the Rapids lineup (losing both starting forwards in the 24 hours leading up to the game) and the inability to get good chances on target allowed Seattle to claim the win.

My key to the match was a defensive lock down.  One mistake was all it took.  At least we didn't give up a PK.

Random Thoughts:

• Steve Zakuani gave Section 108 a nice thumbs up after we welcomed him back to Colorado at the beginning of the game.
• That said, Yedlin deserved all the boos we gave him for that Flock of Seagulls-esque haircut.
• Buddle was ruled out after pre-game warm-ups.  That was probably the change that cost us any points from this game.
• Good to see Mwanga out there, bad to see him play so poorly.  He had two gift-wrapped chances he couldn't finish and generally didn't impact the game at all.
• Mullan started out similarly but found his groove in the second half.  He wasn't great but it was a marked improvement after halftime.
• Cascio wasn't as bad as some are making him out to be, but with the complete lack of input from Harris and Mwanga we needed more from him than we got.
• LaBrocca leaving at half for the second straight game isn't a good sign, but Hill coming on for him made the Rapids look a little better.
• I know some readers won't like this comment but Seattle's time-wasting is still the best in the league.  Make of that what you will. ;)

Player of the Match: Clint Irwin.  Almost by default as nobody stood out and Irwin made every save we could expect from him.  Nothing he could have done about the goal.

Colorado - Seattle - 4/20 - We Know What MLS Was Smoking

Trap Game!

Tomorrow the Sounders are in town to play the Rapids.  As long time readers of this blog know, games against Seattle hold a added importance to me due to it being my hometown and a number of my family members (Hi Anthony!, Hi Rob!) who are Sounders season ticket holders.  Game time tomorrow is at 4pm so the tailgate starts at 1pm with a double-theme of fish tacos and munchies.  For those watching on TV the game has been moved from Altitude to Altitude2 due to the Nuggets playoff game on Altitude.

A couple of important notes for this game.  This is likely to be Steve Zakuani's first playing time in Colorado since Mullan's tackle broke his name.  He'll probably start.  Also in the 26th minute there will be a minute of sustained applause from the Centennial 38 sections to honor the victims of the bombings in Boston.  26 because the bombs were exploded at the end of the 26.2 mile Boston Marathon.  Rapids fans (throughout the various forms of the supporters groups) have always had a good relationship with the Midnight Riders, the Revolution's supporters group.  Revs goalkeeper Matt Reis was at the finish line with his family and while he is fine his father-in-law is one of the victims in the hospital in critical condition.

Injury Report:

OUT:  FW Deshorn Brown (), DF Diego Calderon (R knee Surgery), MF Jaime Castrillon (R knee surgery), MF Kevin Harbottle (L strained MCL), GK Matt Pickens (L arm fracture)
QUESTIONABLE: FW Edson Buddle (lower back pain), MF Nick LaBrocca (L groin tightness), MF Pablo Mastroeni (L quad strain), DF Brian Mullan (R foot pain), MF Martin Rivero (R foot fracture)

Ineligible:

FW Charles Eloundou - Still waiting on International Transfer Certificate

Buddle and Mullan are new additions to the Questionable list, but the big news is Deshorn Brown.  Chris Bianchi has tweeted he is out for tomorrow's game with more details to come.  That's a big loss going into the game.  Dillon Powers also needed stitches over his right eye after a collision in training today but it doesn't seem like it will keep him from playing tomorrow.  Seattle is missing one player due to injury and 3 others are questionable.  My guess at the starting XI:

This assumes Buddle, LaBroccca, and Mullan can go.  If they can't go I'd expect O'Neill in for Mullan with Wynne moving to right back, Cascio in for LaBrocca with Powers moving up, and maybe Hill or Smith in for Buddle with Mwanga as a lone striker and Hill/Smith and Harris on the wings in a 4-3-3/4-5-1.

Key To Look For: Defensive lock down.  Seattle has only scored 2 goals in 5 games so far, so they aren't yet dangerous but that will change eventually.  If Colorado can keep Seattle from figuring it out they can scrape by with a win even with their extremely weakened lineup.  Oh, and getting through a game without giving up a PK!

Prediction: 1-0 win, goal by Moor.  Drew redeems himself after the LA game by heading a free kick home and the Rapids keeps the Sounders attack puzzled for another week.  I wouldn't be shocked to see a 0-0 or 1-1 draw but I'm feeling optimistic.

Rapids Handle Under-A-Chivas

First of all obviously the attack in Boston yesterday is top of mind right now.  Since the Japanese earthquake and tsunami I've had links to the Red Cross on the left bar, but they're just as applicable after yesterday's bombing.

Now on to Saturday's game.  The Rapids managed to hold the highest-scoring team in the league scoreless somehow, allowing an early PK by DeShorn Brown to hold up for a second straight 1-0 win.  The game started fast with Brown getting knocked down just inside the penalty area.  The ref didn't hesitate to point to the spot and Brown went to captain Hendry Thomas (who took the spot kick against FSL last week) and said he was feeling it today.  Thomas made way for the rookie and Brown sent Kennedy the wrong way for his second goal of the season and a quick 1-0 lead.

About 30 minutes later Colorado tried to give it right back.  For the 4th straight game the team gave up a penalty kick.  This time Shane O'Neill went up unfairly for a header and knocked Correa sideways.  Extending his own MLS record for number of consecutive games facing a PK to start a career, Irwin stepped up and guess the right way for the 4th straight time.  Irwin didn't make the save but Correa put the shot right above him into the bar.

Those were the big highlights of the match.  Both teams had a couple of good chances (Brown had a great chance that he appeared to run out of energy on) but nobody could find the back of the net and the Rapids had their first road win of the season.

My key to the match was taking advantage of the weak Chivas defense.  Brown did a good job getting behind the defensive line with the Rapids having 16 attempts on goal to 11 and 6 shots on target to 2 but they couldn't finish the job.  Still didn't get a goal from the run of play.

Random Thoughts:

• I was concerned about the decision to leave Moor on the bench to stick with the younger O'Neill and Klute.  Turns out it was a legitimate concern as O'Neill gave up a PK but it didn't cost us.  At halftime Moor came on and O'Neill moved up to midfield.
• LaBrocca came off for Moor nursing a sore groin.  Nothing serious according to the team but no sense taking any chances.
• Buddle is slowly playing his way into shape, but I'd like to see Mwanga get some time while Buddle is getting back to 100%.
• Atiba Harris gets a pass this week as he was apparently playing with food poisoning.
• Jamie Smith should have come on about 15 minutes earlier than he did.  Our midfield really needed help in the 2nd half hanging onto the ball.
• We have an Anthony Wallace sighting!  Good to see him finally healthy enough to play.
• Mullan is better on the right than the left, but he's still better in midfield than in defense.
• Clint Irwin is still the man.

Player of the Match: DeShorn Brown.  Set up the PK, scored the PK, should have had a second, and was generally burning Chivas all night.  Every time I see him play I like the pick for him a little more.

Rapids Take On Baby Goats

 

Hopefully we leave the goats all wet

Tomorrow night the Rapids are back in LA-LA land, this time to face Chivas USA.  Chivas are one of the big surprises of the season,. being much better than people expected.  Game time tomorrow is a late 8:30pm, and this is the one game this year that starts on Altitude 2.  For those of you in the Denver area that have Comcast that's channel 105 (otherwise known as CET and only available in SD).  I say start on Altitude 2 because Altitude's schedule shows that they will join the game in progress for the second half after the Mammoth game finishes.  The official watch party is at the Armoury in Denver.

Injury Report:

OUT:  DF Diego Calderon (R knee Surgery), MF Jaime Castrillon (R knee surgery), MF Kevin Harbottle (L strained MCL), GK Matt Pickens (L arm fracture), MF Martin Rivero (R foot fracture),
QUESTIONABLE: MF Nick LaBrocca (L groin tightness), MF Pablo Mastroeni (L quad strain), DF Marvell Wynne (R knee pain)

Ineligible:

FW Charles Eloundou - Still waiting on International Transfer Certificate

Not good to see LaBrocca and Wynne added to the injury report, but good to see Pablo doing better.  Chivas has 3 players out and 4 questionable.  With Moor back Pareja has a decision to make, but my guess at the XI:

This assumes none of the questionable players can go.  I'd expect Wynne in for O'Neill and Pablo or LaBrocca in for Cascio if they're able to start.  There's been talk from Pareja that he won't put Moor right back in the lineup but I think that's just talk.

Key To Look For: Taking advantage of Chivas' weak defense.  They have a strong offense that I don't expect to stop, but we can get behind them.  Dan Kennedy is hard to beat though.

Prediction: 2-1 loss, goal by Buddle.  I think our injuries make it too steep a hill to climb tomorrow.  Chivas is not a weak offense and we have defensive issues, meanwhile we aren't scoring particularly well.  Buddle does open his account though.