Quite A 48 Hours

I'm going to dispense with the actual game review as A. the game stunk and that's all that really needs to be said and B. the aftermath says more about what's going on with the Rapids than the game itself.

In his post game interview Pablo Mastroeni had a number of alarming comments.  Two in particular that stood out:

“I'm not worried about the trophy, the Rocky Mountain Cup,” Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni said after the loss. “I'm worried about building something that's sustainable. Then all the hardware and all that other stuff will be a byproduct of that. Can't put the cart before the horse.”

“Minus the better part of the first 15 minutes, we handled ourselves real well, created some great opportunities, had a lot of great chances in the first half to do something with it, just that final touch, that final pass wasn't there tonight,” Mastroeni said.

Both from the Denver Post recap of the game.

Apparently the interview was part of the post-game show on Altitude (which, being at the stadium, I didn't see) and reportedly Pablo was offered multiple chances to clarify his statements that he did not take.

Rapids supporters, including myself, were livid about these quotes.  This led to a Saturday evening and Sunday full of heated discussions in online forums.  Some supporters went so far as to call for Pablo's job, either immediately or at the end of the season should we fail to make the playoffs (not I in either case).  Letters were sent to Tim Hinchey and the Rapids FO about the disapproval of Mastroeni's comments and questioning why supporters should care for something Pablo does not.

Apparently the Front Office and Pablo got the message as this afternoon Mastroeni released a letter to the supporters clarifying his comments.  Some excerpts:

Some of my comments from immediately following Saturday night’s game require clarification, and I’m glad to be able to do so here and now. I care deeply about this club, winning games, and taking home trophies, especially the Rocky Mountain Cup, and I want this passion to be as clear now that I’m a coach as it was when I was playing.

My comments were inelegant and did not convey my passion for this Cup, which I hold dear to my heart, as I feel that the passion I displayed in every Rocky Mountain Cup match I participated in (as a player) has been a major catalyst in making the rivalry what it is today. It hurt to see RSL walk away with that trophy. I never want it to happen again. Now we have to turn that pain into motivation for tough road games in Dallas and D.C., followed by a difficult home match against the Galaxy. We don’t just want to make the playoffs, but to host a playoff game if we can.

Pablo also said he'll speak more to this issue on the Rapids podcast later this week.

From my point of view Mastroeni learned a lesson about being a head coach this weekend.  His statement today reads more like the Pablo we watched for 11+ seasons than his statements on Saturday did.  I appreciate his desire to not linger on failures and immediately refocus on the next game and the long-term plan but he expressed it in a very poor way.  Being a coach at this level isn't only about leading the players, its also about being a face of the team to the supporters and his comments on Saturday appeared to brush aside the supporter's passion for this rivalry.  I do think that today's clarification reflects his true beliefs on the subject though I'm sure the actual language was massaged by the Rapids Media Relations department. ;)

Its also a positive sign that the fans reacted how they did and made their concerns known to the team, and that the team immediately responded by giving Pablo a chance to clarify his comments.  That shows the passion from the supporters is there and recognized by the team.

All that said, we still lost a game we had no business losing, and the Rocky Mountain Cup along with it.  The was a pitiful performance on Saturday night and combined with Wednesday's miserable loss it has greatly reduced our playoff chances.  With four of the next five on the road against tough opponents (Dallas, DC, LA, and Seattle) and our one home game being against LA we've wasted a lot of easier points to pick up.  We are now behind last year's pace in both the league standings and obviously the Rocky Mountain Cup standings.  This while arguably having a better teams.  Things need to improve and improve quickly.

Rocky Mountain Cup, Part 2

Yours truly with our Cup

Sunday marks the one year anniversary of winning back the Rocky Mountain Cup.  We can't win the Cup tomorrow night but we can go a long ways towards accomplishing that goal.  Conversely we can lose it tomorrow.  The Rapids need 4 points in the last two Rocky Mountain Cup games to retain the Cup while FSL needs 2 points to win it.  A win tomorrow and all we need in Sandy in September is a draw.  A draw tomorrow puts the pressure on us to win in Sandy and neither team has won on a road Cup match in almost 7 years.  FSL breaking that streak tomorrow wins them the Cup.  Game time is 7pm so the tailgate is at 4 and the Cup will be present until it needs to be taken into the stadium for pregame.  For those of you who can't make it to the biggest home game of the year, A, you suck ;) and B, the game will be on Altitude.

Injury Report:

OUT: ML Brian Mullan (L knee injury)

QUESTIONABLE: DF Shane O'Neill (R knee sprain); MF Jose Mari (L ankle sprain); MF Jared Watts ( R shin contusion); FW Deshorn Brown (R groin strain)

Disciplinary Report:

SUSPENDED: DF Thomas Piermayr

FSL is missing three players including Rapids killer Saborio.  Brown is expected to be able to start, as is Watts, while Jose Mari is probably ready to come off the bench as a sub.  O'Neill will likely not be available.  Based on that here's my lineup guess:

Sadly I do see Watts getting the start with Jose Mari still not ready to go 90.  If Brown really isn't ready we could see Torres up front with Sanchez but I see Sanchez starting either way.  Otherwise the rest of the starters seem obvious given Pablo's patterns.

Strategic Consideration: Figure out how to win on short rest.  We haven't done it yet this season with the Mother's Day debacle and the trip to Dallas both being losses in the third game of a three game week.  We have to figure it out tomorrow night.

Prediction: 2-1 win, goals by Brown and Sanchez.  If Pablo can't get the team up for an RMC match he has no hope of ever getting the team up for a short rest game.  I think the passion he's shown for this rivalry is spread to the team and the Rapids come out hot.  The tired legs will keep us from getting a clean sheet but getting Brown back will allow us to get the lead, and bringing Jose Mari off the bench will allow us to keep it.

Well, That Sucked

As expected the Rapids looked listless on short rest.  What wasn't expected was how much of an egg they laid.  No passion, sloppy defense, invisible offense, and zero points.  Really a sad effort from Colorado but not a shock given their track record in short-rest games this season.

My strategic consideration was punting on this game.  Sadly the only regular starts who got the night completely off were those too injured to play (O'Neill, Jose Mari, and Brown).  Otherwise everyone who would likely be in our best XI played at least 20 minutes and we still lost.

• In games on short rest the Rapids are averaging .4 pts per game.  In games on regular rest they're at 1.75 pts/game.  This is really the only thing Pablo has flubbed this season, the massive lineup changes and the inability to get his team up to play on short rest.
• Watts, Hill, Hairston, LaBrocca.  That's a midfield that scares exactly no teams.  Our inability to play the ball at all through midfield killed us.
• Watts was, again at fault on a goal.  He was ball watching on the throw-in and let Nguyen run free to set up the first goal.
• The officiating wasn't great, but it wasn't the reason for the loss.  A yellow should have been shown to New England at some point in the first half for persistent infringement.
• Piermayr's second yellow was weak but it was a foul.  Since the Revs scored immediately off the free-kick to make it 2-0 the missing player didn't come into play.  We weren't going to win down 2 if we had 10 or 11 men on the pitch.
• Pablo's comments after the game communicated all the right things, but so did Moor's after the USOC loss.  There's only so many "wake up" games you can have before you realize the team isn't waking up.  Less talk more action at this point.
• Even with the loss we're still having our 7th best season of all time, only .014 pts/game out of the top 5.  The loss dropped us from a tie for 3rd to 7th.

Man of the Match: Clint Irwin.  Kind of wins by default as nobody had a real good game.

Long Road Trip On Short Rest

Boston and back mid-week can't be fun

Tomorrow the Rapids make their longest road trip of the season heading to Boston (well, Foxborough) for a mid-week match against the Revolution.  On op of the long trip and short rest the Revs also play on turf so you can count out Sanchez and probably Buddle.  Game time tomorrow is 5:30pm MDT and the game will be on Altitude with 'Celo and Fleming.

Injury Report:

QUESTIONABLE: DF Shane O'Neill (R knee sprain); MF Jose Mari (L ankle sprain); FW Deshorn Brown (R groin strain)

Disciplinary Report:

SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: MF Carlos Alvarez

As of the last injury report New England had two players out so they're in slightly better shape than we are.  The track record this season of our lineups on short rest has been somewhat unpredictable but I'm going to take my best guess:

I think we see a largely second team tomorrow night while the main starters stay here and rest for the weekend RMC match.  Its really a guess though.

Strategic Consideration: Punt.  This is probably heavily influenced by the rivalry, but strategically I think our best move is to write this game off.  Mid-week, short rest, long road trip, on turf, and playing an eastern Conference opponent.  Meanwhile on Saturday we have a Western Conference opponent at home and on top of everything else the Rocky Mountain Cup.  The 3 points on Saturday are more valuable and IMO more achievable than the points tomorrow night and we should focus on one game instead of trying to split focus and get 0 wins (like we've seen in our other short rest weeks this year).

Prediction: 1-0 loss.  I don't like our chances in this one regardless of the lineup.  The Revs haven't been scoring much lately but I think the short rest and long travel lead to a bad game for the Rapids.  new England breaks its long losing streak and sends us home without points.

Rapids Honor Pablo, Retire Chivas USA

Colorado had an easy night against Chivas USA.  Complete dominance early led to a 2-0 halftime lead and Gaby Torres' first goal of the season in the second half finished the job for a 3-0 win.  The Rapids outshot Chivas 16-4, shots on target were 7-1 to Colorado's favor, and the home team had 6 corners to the visitors 3 (and none of those were until the second half).  A surprisingly toothless performance from the team soon to be renamed.

My strategic consideration was not outsmarting ourselves.  No signs of resting or overlooking Chivas until the game was put away.  Now we just need to keep that focus throughout this week.

• The game started with a bang, literally.  The normal post-anthem Arsenal cannon discharge didn't happen until a minute or two into the game.  I'm pretty sure everyone's heart skipped a beat when that came out of nowhere.
• It also started with a bang figuratively as Torres set up Serna with a shot that caromed off the crossbar within the first two minutes.
• LaBrocca's goal doesn't seem possible.  It almost looks like somebody reached out and hooked it into the goal at the last minute.  Great strike.
• A couple of weeks ago I commented that LaBrocca's shooting kills us every time.  Guess I have to take that back for a bit. ;)
• If that hadn't gone in the Rapids would have had a great argument for a handball just before the shot.  Scoring so quickly made that moot though.
• Textbook corner and header from Powers and Moor on the second goal.  You couldn't execute that any better.
• Loved seeing a solid defensive effort from the Rapids in the second half.  They had a very organized shape from the forwards that set a strong line just inside the defensive half all the way back to the back 4.
• Watts is still struggling but his play this week was an improvement from the last 2-3 games.  Glad to see he's not getting his head down.
• Sanchez had a quiet night but he's fun to watch every time he gets the ball.
• Torres showed why he's a DP for the first time all season.  If it wasn't Pablo's night Torres would have been MotM.  His goal was well placed and showed his ability to read the game.
• Not only did he have the goal, but his pass to Sanchez set up the shot that was blocked by the hand on the first goal, and it was his shot that was deflected for the corner that led to the second goal.
• After tonight's results the Rapids are tied with LA and Dallas for 3rd in points but LA has 3 games in hand on Dallas while Colorado only has 1.  That group is tied for 5th overall in the league.  Vancouver is 2 points back on the outside of the playoff chase.

Man of the Match: Pablo Mastroeni.  How can you not choose the greatest player in team history on the night he was added to the Gallery of Honor?