MLS Cup 2010: The Rematch (Part 2)

"No disrespect to the Eastern Conference, but tonight was the championship" -- Dallas defensive midfielder Daniel Hernandez after winning the Western Conference Championship in 2010

I just wanted to throw that in as a "friendly" reminder about our guests tomorrow. I expect him to get the official Class VI welcome for 90 minutes! Prior to giving Dallas a repeat of their MLS Cup defeat Class VI and the Pid Army will be hosting their annual chili cookoff at the tailgate (this year with a corn bread category!). Due to the contest the tailgate starts at 4pm with kickoff at 7. for those of you unable to make it the game is on Altitude.

Injury Report:

OUT: FW Conor Casey (L Achilles tear); Anthony Wallace (R knee arthroscopic surgery)

PROBABLE: MF Jamie Smith (R hamstring strain / R calf strain); GK Matt Pickens (R groin strain)

Disciplinary Report:

SUSPENDED AFTER 1 MORE CAUTION: FW Caleb Folan; MF Brian Mullan; FW Sanna Nyassi

SUSPENDED AFTER 2 MORE CAUTIONS: MF Ross LaBauex; MF Jeff Larentowicz; DF Tyrone Marshall; MF Pablo Mastroeni; DF Drew Moor; MF Wells Thompson

That's probably the best injury report we've seen all season. Other than Casey and Wallace who's seasons are over everyone is available. Dallas is missing 3 players to injury. Both teams played midweek Champions League games on the road but Colorado won with primarily reserves while Dallas got beat down with a number of starters. My best guess on our lineup:

Pickens

Kimura - Wynne - Moor - Comminges

Mullan - Pablo - Larentowicz - Smith

Folan - Nyassi

Barring a pre-game injury this is almost guaranteed to be the lineup. Gary Smith said that the group that went to El Salvador wouldn't do any more than be subs for this game so the starting XI is pretty clear.

Key To Look For: Was the split team plan this week successful? Smith made a controversial move to essentially split the the team in half, including the coaching staff, for the two games this week. The first game went to plan with the 3-1 win in Metapan, now the "first team" has had a week of rest an no travel so they should be able to run through Dallas.

Prediction: 2-1 win, goals by Nyassi and Larentowicz. Dallas will be tough over the first 60 minutes forcing the teams to trade goals. With their midweek game Dallas will lose steam late and Nyassi's speed will beat them late for the winning goal.

I'll Take My Crow Now Please

So, yeah, about that whole post where I said the Rapids will be beat by Metapan and the roster selection was not great. Well Colorado proved me an idiot with a 3-1 win last night. The reserve squad, lead by Steve Guppy and augmented by Wells Thompson and Tyrone Marshall, pulled together in a tough environment and dominated the scoreboard.

There was a pretty big mistake to start the night. The Rapids stayed in San Salvador, about a 2 hour drive from Metapan. It wasn't until the team got to the stadium for pre-game that the equipment manager realized he forgot a bag at the hotel, the bag with the team's cleats! Immediately they called their contact back and the hotel, he found the bag, and a police escort started towards Metapan. The problem was that kickoff was in 90 minutes and starters Wells Thompson and Andre Akpan didn't have boots! A number of players had kept their cleats with them, and they were able to borrow some from Metapan and run to a sporting goods store to buy others, but Thompson and Akpan were stuck wearing cleats that were too big. Just as the teams were taking the field for kickoff the bag arrived and the referees were forced to handle a delay as Ian Joyce and Omar Cummings helped Wells and Andre get the right shoes on. The rest of the starters without their normal shoes changed at half.

In the 31st minute Ross LaBauex played a ball in front of Eddie Ababio. Ababio chipped it over the keeper for the first goal. This was Ababio's first professional appearance (later int he game he would be replaced by Davy Armstrong who was also getting his first professional playing time as the Rapids first homegrown player). The lead only lasted 5 minutes as Stweard Ceus was called for a 6-second violation. I have literally never seen that called in a professional game. The ensuing indirect kick inside the box was finished off to level the score. Metapan was very unlucky not to score right before half as they had a wide-open volley go off the crossbar.

Right after half Amarikwa put the Rapids back into the lead with a volley off a header form the top of the box that the Metapan keeper fumbled and let get behind him. Cummings finished off the scoring with a classic Omar goal, running onto a long ball ahead of the defense and beating the keeper. At that point Metapan knew it was over and folded up shop.

As you can see, the Rapids proved me wrong. Colorado was really outplayed for a good part of the game, especially in the first half, but they manged to do two things that have been lacking recently. The first was finishing their opportunities. The 3 goals were really their only 3 good chances in the game (and Amarikwa's was only half a chance at best) and they finished all of them. The second was that they didn't make any defensive blunders. The couple of good chances Metapan got came from them outplaying us (or int he case of the goal, a horrible call), not from the keeper playing a bad ball or a defender not seeing an attacker on a pass. Combined they were worse on the field but better on the scoreboard.

My humble pie now eaten, I still stand by my belief that Smith skipping this game was an insult and a poor decision, regardless of the result. Just because the Rapids won doesn't change the questionable decision-making process.

Colorado Proves CCL Game Is Meaningless

Colorado faces Isidro Metapan tonight in El Salavador at 8pm MDT. The game is delayed until 10:30pm on FOX Soccer Channel but can be watched live on the CONCACAF Champions League site. The supporters groups are gathering at the British Bulldog for this one, presumably to watch the live stream on big screens.

The Rapids sent a mostly reserve squad to Metapan, with Cummings, Thompson, and Marshall as the only players who get regular playing time. Apparently the game is so unimportant that Gary Smith can't be bothered to travel, sending assistant coach Steve Guppy with the team to coach the game.

I actually agree that this game should have a lower priority. Our playoff chances are teetering on the edge while our odds of advancement in the CCL are very low. A loss in either of our next two games eliminates us, and even a draw makes it difficult. Getting wins in El Salvador and Mexico would be a long shot for a fully healthy Rapids squad, with the injuries and the importance of our remaining league games its time to punt. Had we started full lineups in either (or both) of the Real Espana games and gotten the wins that were there for the taking we'd be in a different situation, but since we didn't we need to move on from the CCL.

That said, its ridiculous that Gary Smith isn't with the team. He's the head coach and this is a first-team game. Unlike the players, the only physical exertion he has to perform at a game is to get off the bench to pass instructions once in a while. A flight to El Salvador and back shouldn't cause any problems with that. Its less than 200 miles further to Metapan from Denver than to Boston. If the Rapids had a midweek road match in New England, would he skip that as well?

Sending Omar Cummings, and to a lesser extent Wells Thompson, is also an odd choice. Cummings is our best healthy striker with more goals+assists than anyone on the team. Thompson is a backup, but with Jamie Smith having a history of pre-game injuries Wells has been pressed into service on a moments notice more than once. Now, with a critical league game on Saturday, he sends them both with the reserves to Metapan and says anyone on the trip won't play more than a substitute role on Saturday. So we can expect to see Folan and Nyassi up top and we have to hope Jamie Smith stays healthy.

Clearly this is a game Gary Smith has written off. If he can't be bothered to show up and support his team, why should I bother even watching it?

Prediction: 2-0 Rapids loss. A reserves team couldn't get it done against a weaker Real Espana team at home, there's no reason to think they can get it done in El Salvador.

This Is Getting Old...

Sigh. Another game, another lack of attack until its too late, another failure to win. The Rapids spent a good 60 minutes doing essentially nothing in the offensive third, and by then they were down 1-0. They showed some life in the last 30 minutes and were somewhat unlucky not to find two goals, but at the same time they were lucky to get one.

Once again Colorado conceded an early goal. This time it was an 18th minute 30+ yard blast from Khari Stephenson that Pickens inexplicably just chested right back to the center of the box. Wondolowski beat Moor to the ball and it was an easy shot past Pickens for the 1-0 lead. Wondo got another good look in the 35th minute, but Pickens was up to the challenge this time around.

After half the Rapids started to get moving, and they controlled the game for the final 30 minutes. This was largely due to San Jose taking former-Rapid Jacob Peterson off and Colorado putting former-Earthquake Brian Mullan on. The Rapids created plenty of chances but mainly converted them into corner kicks that were cleared. In the 70th minute Drew Moor got a snap header off form a corner, only to see 'Quakes keeper Jon Busch make a last ditch save to push it over the bar. On the ensuing corner though the ball pinballed around in front of net and Moor was able to slam it home to level the score. Folan almost won it in stoppage time, but Busch once again cleared it off the line.

My key to the game was our ability refocus on the league after the end of our CCL hopes. It seems like we haven't been able to focus on anything recently.

Other Observations:

• Pickens is the only person to blame on the goal. A MLS-level keeper has to do better with a long-range shot than chesting it back into the center of the box. Moor let Wondo get behind him, but the difference was a split second reaction to a scenario that should never have happened.
• At one point int eh second half Koz freed Cummings down the right side and Omar played a crossing ball right into the path of an onrushing Folan. It was an easy shot to put on target and force a big save. Somehow Folan managed to kick it out for a throw-in behind him on the far side. *shakes head*
• Nyassi had 2-3 good chances to get a goal, only to come up with weak or off-target shots.
• Comminges still hasn't quite settled in with the team yet, but I'm liking most of what I'm seeing.
• Somebody smack the DJ that decided to play 'Rock the Casbah' as the fans left the stadium. Do they not know their league history?
• And for those of you who don't (or don't know music) the San Jose supporters group is called the Casbah, because the Earthquakes were originally called the Clash. The Clash is also the group that sang 'Rock the Casbah'.
• The Rapids have now gone 7 games in all competitions without a win. This ties Smith's record from 2010 and 2009. Unfortunately looking at our up coming schedule with games @Metapan, against Dallas, against FSL, and @Santos it could be a while before we see a win if we don't figure things out.
• Luckily we finish @Vancouver, the worst team in the league. 3 more points will all but wrap up a playoff spot for us.

Player of the Game: Drew Moor. Not only for the goal, but for keeping San Jose quite most of the night back in his regular center back spot.

Western Foes Meet In Rematch Of Eastern Championship

The last time the Earthquakes were in town the Rapids sent them packing after a crazy goal by Koz and the trophy celebration to the left sent Colorado to MLS Cup. The stakes aren't quite so high tomorrow night but if the Rapids have any hopes of repeating they need to repeat the result from that night to solidify their playoff position. Kickoff tomorrow is back to the normal time of 7pm, which means the kegs will be tapped at 4 and the grills fired up at 5. I hope to be there by 6 after the Washington-Cal game. ;) Those of you not going can watch the game on Altitude.

Injury Report:

OUT: FW Conor Casey (L Achilles tear); Anthony Wallace (R knee arthroscopic surgery)

QUESTIONABLE: MF Jamie Smith (R hamstring strain / R calf strain)

PROBABLE: GK Matt Pickens (R groin strain)

Disciplinary Report:

SUSPENDED AFTER 1 MORE CAUTION: MF Brian Mullan; FW Sanna Nyassi

SUSPENDED AFTER 2 MORE CAUTIONS: FW Caleb Folan; MF Ross LaBauex; MF Jeff Larentowicz; DF Tyrone Marshall; MF Pablo Mastroeni; MF Wells Thompson

The injury report is getting better, especially since Jamie Smith was able to play for a few minutes on Wednesday night. San Jose is missing 9 players to injury or suspension, so they're in bad shape. My guess on our lineup:

Pickens

Kimura - Wynne - Moor - Comminges

Mullan - Pablo - Larentowicz - Thompson

Cummings - Nyassi

I don't think Smith will get the start, but he'll be the first start off the bench, spelling Thompson who played 90 on Wednesday. Mullan and Koz also played 90, but I think they'll both start at home with Mullan being another likely sub.

Key To Look For: How well can we refocus? The CCL is gone at this point, the only thing to play for is the league. Can we put ourselves in that mindset?

Prediction: 2-0 win, goals by Nyassi and Larentowicz. San Jose is a bad team on the road after playing in Portland on Wednesday. If Colorado can't beat a team like that then we might as well close up shop for the season. Nyassi uses his speed to get behind the defense for a goal and Ginger ninja powers one in from long range.