Rapids Look For Their First Win Tomorrow

Game 5 and still need a win.  This is the first game I predicted we'd win and I think we have a real shot.  Its the Houston Dynamo in town for this one with another cold night on tap.  One of these days we'll see a home game that doesn't have snow on the field.  Houston is off to a good start for the season with two wins and a draw but all 3 games were at home and their level of competition (Montreal, Vancouver, and FSL) hasn't been great.  Kickoff is at 7pm tomorrow so the tailgate is at 4pm and Fleming and 'Celo will have the call on Altitude.

Injury Report:
OUT: D Kortne Ford
QUESTIONABLE: M Sam Nicholson, F Niki Jackson

So this is probably as close to full health as we're going to be be for a while.  No suspensions, non international callups, and Ford the only likely starting XI player missing.

I'd be really surprised if this isn't the XI tomorrow, barring a late injury.  The only other player who might slip in would be Bassett, who had a great game last week, but I think he's still likely to come off the bench.  Midfield positions are, once again, a best guess.

Prediction: 2-1 win, goals by Kamara and Acosta.  If not now, when are we going to get our first win.  This is the healthiest we've been, we've got full rest, and we're at home.  The next time that's likely to happen is May 3rd against Vancouver.  I think we have it in us.  If we don't then our hopes for an improved season look dark.

Colorado Rapids - Arsenal, July 15th

The long rumored (and even longer deserved) is official now.  Before their International Champions Cup matches in LA, Charlotte, and DC Arsenal will be coming to Commerce City to play the Rapids on July 15th.  Despite Kroenke owning shares in Arsenal since 2007, being the largest shareholder since 2009, and owning a majority of the shares since 2011 this is the first time the teams have played a friendly in the U.S.  The Rapids did travel to London a couple of times in preseason to train and played closed-door scrimmages against Arsenal there but that was many years ago.  The last time the Rapids played a European team in a friendly was Swansea City in 2012 and the only friendly they've played in Colorado since then was Boa Juniors last year (they played Santos Laguna in Albuquerque a few years ago).

Now, honestly, this is probably going to be Arsenal scrubs against Rapids scrubs.  Two days before this match the Rapids have a MLS game in Portland and two days after this match Arsenal is playing Bayern Munich in LA.  Neither team is likely to save any of their starters from those games to play in this match.  But, if you're an Arsenal fan, this is the first game they've played in the U.S. off the East Coast that wasn't in California.  Its going to allow a number of their fans who don't usually get to see them in person a chance to do so.  Tickets are on sale already for season ticket holders, with prices already reported from $50-$95.  General public can buy tickets in mid-April.

In case you're wondering, for a number of reasons I am not planning on attending this one.  My family is already planning to visit that weekend is the main reason but also because I have no real interest in seeing either team's scrubs.  Plus I'm going to spend $45 on a ticket to see QPR-Blackburn at Loftus Road in London next month so that's where my extra soccer budget is going this year.

Rapids Take Step Back In Dallas

Saturday in Dallas looked more like 2018 than 2019.  Another late goal led to a loss when a point was there for the taking.  Or defense looked bad on both goals.  On the first there were 8 Rapids on or within a step of the box against 4 Dallas players, one of whom ran himself out of the play into an offside position, and yet Dallas sustained possession in the box for 7 seconds and two passes before scoring.  On the second its 7 defenders on 5 attackers and Dallas got off two great shots with Howard able to save the first.  As we saw in Seattle, unmarked attackers will find the goal.  The Rapids goal came off a nice free kick where Kamara got what felt like a foot above everyone else to ping a header off the corner of the crossbar and Smith slid in to force the ball across the line with his thigh/groin.  Even with that they had to go to VAR to confirm it crossed the line.

Random Musings:

• Three worrying trends are apparent over the start of the season.  1. Slow starts on the road, the Rapids were lucky not to be down within the first few minutes.  2. Late goals, that's two weeks in a row that we've dropped points from an goal after the 80th minute.  3. Our defense doesn't mark anyone.
• One of the reasons we weren't down early and didn't lose by more is Badji doing Badji things.  Early on he pinged the post on a shot he was unpressured on, late in the game he had a good look at goal and didn't put it on target.  Anyone wondering why we traded our leading scorer last year just needs to look at this game to get an answer.
• Tommy Smith was back and did a good thing (goal) and a bad thing (not marking the goal-scorer on the second goal).  We don't need him to do the first but he really needs to stop doing the second quickly if he's going to help this team.
• Seriously, on Dallas' two goals we had them outnumbered by a combined 17 to 9 (including Howard) and they scored both times with no trouble.  The man on the ball never had any pressure on him on either goal.  Ridiculous defending.
• Howard could do nothing on either goal and made a great save on one of them and a number of other good moves during the game.  He looks a lot more like his pre-injury self.
• Why was Jack Price taking the free kicks?  The one that scored the goal was good but most of them were average at best.
• Serna made a couple of highlight plays, but they were largely highlights because he put himself in a bad position he had to recover from.  Better teams would have made him pay for those.
• Rosenberry was passive on both goals (as was most of the defense).  I expected more out of a fringe national team player.
• Of course, he might have been following Acosta's lead who was also pretty passive the whole game.
• Shinyashiki looked like the rookie he was.  He had a great 1v1 chance to put the Rapids up and hit it right at the keeper.  He'll learn.
• Kamara was the most motivated and active player again this week.  He's quickly become a favorite of mine.
• This felt like the first real disappointing result of the season.  Going in I had pegged us at two home draws in the first 3 games against 3 of the tougher 2018 Western Conference teams and that's what we got.  Dallas is a team in transition with new leadership though and a point was there and a better team could have stolen a win.  Instead we reverted to 2018 play and results.
• Pressure is mounting to get a win against Houston at home this week.  Weather will be decent (but cold), everyone but Ford should be available, and we'll be at home.  If we can't get 3 then this season could go downhill quickly.

Man of the Match: Cole Bassett.  He just looked like he belonged on the field despite his age.  Good ball control, steady presence, and knew where he needed to be.  Nothing spectacular but good solid play in a midfield that didn't have much of it.  I'm starting to wonder if its not better to put Feilhaber at the 10 with Bassett and Acosta behind him backed up by Price.  Mezquida hasn't done much to show he should be getting the minutes over Cole.

Its Our Old Friends F*C* Dallas

Late preview but getting it in before game time.  Colorado is down in Frisco to play Dallas this afternoon, no longer coached by Oscar Pareja or, sadly, led by Fernando Clavijo (RIP).  They're a team in transition and their early results reflect that with them beating teams surprisingly (Galaxy) and not beating teams surprisingly (Revolution).  Game time today is 3:30pm and the game is on Uni Mas and Twitter, not Altitude.  That means Balboa is working the game for Uni Mas but Richard Fleming has the week off so he'll be joining C38 at their watch party at the Celtic.

Injury Report:
OUT; D Kortne Ford
QUESTIONABLE: M Benny Feilhaber

Disciplinary Report:
SUSPENDED: M Johan Blomberg

International Report:
CALLED-UP: F Diego Rubio (Chile)

Rubio made the bench for Chile's game against Mexico last night but saw no playing time.  Good to see Nicholson off the injury report.  Feilhaber was suffering from the flu in mid-week so he may or may not be well in time for the game.  I'm going to assume he won't be ready to start.

I'm pretty confident this will be the XI if Feilhaber isn't available.  I have no confidence in the positions I assigned in midfield though.  The only other possible changes are Jackson instead of Shinyashiki, but we've seen the rookie get more playing time than the sophomore already this season, and Wynne or Opare if Smith isn't ready to start yet.

Prediction: 1-1 draw, goal by Kamara.  I'm not yet ready to predict a win on the road for this team though it wouldn't shock me.  I think our defense is not 100% so no shutouts yet but having Smith back will help.  Losing Rubio will blunt our attack a bit, this is going to be a game that probably doesn't have a lot of good scoring chances so it will be important to take advantage of the ones we get.

Shoe Is On The Other Foot In Second Home Match

Well, now we know how Portland felt at the end of our last home game.  A last minute goal cost the Rapids 2 points and their first win of the season after what was another improved performance (compared to 2018).  As predicted it was an end to end game.  Somewhat sloppy, it wasn't great soccer, but it was competitive and the Rapids again showed a drive they were missing last season.  That pressure led to the Rapids goal when Rubio forced a poor pass from the Sporting goalkeeper and had an empty net to score on.  Sadly an ill-timed foul and a goal of the week candidate from the ensuing free kick meant the Rapids ended up with 1 point when they felt like they could have had 3.

Random Musings:

• Lets start with the obvious, Blomberg's red card.  His first yellow was right in line with what the ref had been calling all night.  He came in late and even if he didn't get a piece of the KC player with his foot he certainly made sure to send him tumbling.  His second yellow card was stupid all the way around.  It was given for time wasting as he kicked the ball back down the field after the whistle on Sjoberg.  Yeah, most refs wouldn't have given it for ho quickly it happened, but the ref was hurrying play all night.  Good players learn how to adapt to the way the ref is calling the game.  The ref was stupid for giving a yellow that quickly but Blomberg was stupid for not realizing the ref wasn't going to brook any time-wasting.
• The ensuing free kick was gorgeous and despite what some fans are saying only Tim Howard of 5 years ago (aka the Belgium game) had any chance of getting to it.  No keeper currently in MLS, including Howard, was stopping it.  Yeah, he didn't make an effort because he knew he was beat and that doesn't look great, but who cares.  I trust Tim to know what he can and can't get to and if he doesn't want to waste energy on a lost cause I'm fine with that.
• That goal shouldn't obscure a pretty good night from Howard.  Any concerns about him coasting through his final year should be gone after how he's played the first 3 games.
• Kamara is a beat but he's almost doing too much.  He needs to be 10 years or so further up the field putting himself into dangerous positions to receive the ball, not trying to create all the chances.  The whole team is playing more compressed, probably to help protect the weakened back line, but its costing us offensive chances.
• Feilhaber looked better this game but I still don't see him as a 6.
• The pressure from the forwards made KC jumpy all night, its no surprise it paid off in a goal.
• Rubio showed what he can bring this game with that pressure and his work rate.  It paid off in a callup by the Chilean National Team for their friendlies against Mexico and the U.S. next week.  He'll miss the Dallas game on Saturday but its a big opportunity for him.
• Obviously its not great that we're still winless, but its exactly what I predicted.  We had 3 tough games to start and injuries, getting here with 2 points is a solid start.  The 2018 team would have been happy to have 1 point, the 2019 team is disappointed not to have 4.

Man of the Match: Dillon Serna.  I had heard Sam Vines was going to be the starter coming into the season but Serna has clearly displaced him.  He's finally found his spot in this league and has easily replaced what we lost in Castillo being traded.  He still has work to do, particularly when recovering from getting beat on his weak side, but he's going to be dangerous going forward and he's going to make wingers work the full length of the field to stop him or beat him.