Schedule Change And Reports Of Further Spread

Today the Rapids announced that the SKC match will be made up on Wednesday October 2st at 7pm, as expected.  Fans will be allowed to attend the rescheduled match, with ticket info coming shortly.

There were also two tweets about the situation today from outside sources.  First Jake Shapiro at the Denver Post tweeted that some of the Rapids players/staff who have tested positive are showing mild symptoms.  Obviously we with them all the best and hope for their quick recovery.  Second Sam Stejskal at the Athletic tweeted that another 2 players and another staff member has tested positive, brining the totals to 4 players and 10 staff members.  This latest report has not yet been confirmed by the team.  Sam also stated that the earliest the team will be able to train is Friday, and only if everyone continues to test negative.

The Rapids are scheduled to leave Saturday morning for their game in Portland Saturday night, which at this point is still on.  I don't see how that game gets played.  We know that the 14 positive members of the organization pretty much have no chance of making that trip, and the rest of the players won't have trained in a week at best.  Even if there's enough players to field a team, with 10 staff members missing is there enough coaches, trainers, equipment staff, and administrators to actually have a game?  I have my doubts.  I expect that tomorrow or Friday we'll hear the game is off.  The game will then be rescheduled for Wednesday November 5th.

What that means is that starting next Wednesday the team will play every Wednesday and every weekend until Decision Day on November 8th.  No breaks, a game every 3-4 days.  It also means that if the team isn't able to play LAFC at home next Wednesday there is no place on the schedule to make the game up.  Either the league will have to extend the season to allow us to make up the game, or the game will go un-played.  I doubt the league would force us to forfeit.  If you look at the schedules right now, the Sounders-Galaxy game that was scheduled for the night the players refused to play in support of the protests in Kenosha is not on the schedule to be made up (unlike the Colorado-Dallas game which we already made up).  I have heard that the only way that game will be made up is if it has a impact on the playoff picture.  I expect the same thing would apply to any game the Rapids may not be able to make up due to this outbreak.

Rapids' COVID Outbreak Spreads

After the Athletic reported it this afternoon the Rapids announced this evening that 7 more staffers and another player have tested positive for COVID-19, making 9 staffers and 2 players so far.  Team practices have been shut down since the first positives on Thursday and everyone is in isolation and conducting daily testing.  Standard quarantine rules makes it very unlikely that Saturday's game in Portland will be played.

Even if nobody else tests negative and the Rapids could return to practice before Saturday its unclear who would run the training.  Front Office staff (other than probably Padraig Smith) have not been allowed at the Dick since the pandemic started so the outbreak is almost certainly limited to the technical staff.  With Fraser only having 3 assistant coaches, 3 equipment staff, and up to 13 medical staff (though my guess is that a number of them aren't regularly at the Dick during pandemic) the odds are most of the coaching and leadership are part of those 9 staff members.  Hopefully there hasn't been overlap between the first team staff and the youth academy.

Wednesday Oct 21st and Wednesday November 5th are open dates for the Rapids, Timbers, and Sporting KC so look for make up dates for the missed games around then.  But those are the only open dates the Rapids have left, so its going to be weekend-Wednesday-weekend from hear on out once that return to play, hopefully, next Wednesday.  That assumes that the league decides to make up the games, they may make them optional and only played if they materially impact the playoff picture.

Game Off!

Tomorrow night's home game against SKC is off after a Rapids player and three Rapids staff members tested positive for COVID-19 during the most recent round of tests performed on Thursday and Friday.  A date for a reschedule will be determined at a later time.

Hitting The Easy Button

Well we knew going in San Jose was bad, but I don't think we realized they were that bad.  Colorado had very little issue controlling the game and tying their just set record of winning by 5 goals.  They had never won by 5 goals in their history, now they've done it twice in 11 days.  2020 everyone!  There was only one time where San Jose was really close to scoring, and somehow from a position most teams would have forced a highlight save at worst the Earthquakes didn't even get a shot off.  Meanwhile the Rapids were taking shot after shot on the E-Quakes goal.  They only converted one in the first half (after a borderline VAR call waved off a goal) but opened up for 4 in the second half.

Once again it was the young guys, Bassett, Lewis, Shinyashiki, and Mezquida being the old guy at 28.  Assists from Price (twice), Acosta, Trusty, and Bassett continued the youth movement.  There was also an own goal forced by a good pass from Shinyashiki and pressure from Bassett.  Lewis now leads the team Golden Boot race with 5, with Bassett one behind him, and Bassett and Price are tied for the assist lead at 4.  Bassett has had 4 goals and 3 assists in the last 7 games.

Really there's not a whole lot to break down on this one, because the teams were on two different levels.  Hard to say anyone on Colorado played poorly or that anyone on San Jose played well.  The biggest concerns for the Rapids are injury related, with both Namli and Wilson missing the game.  Hopefully they were just being smart and giving them a full week to recover before SKC on Sunday.

Man of the Match: Jack Price.  There were a number of choices, including Bassett, but Price was dealing last night, putting ball after ball into dangerous areas, and only a couple of good saves from the SJ keeper kept him form having more than two assists.

Movers & Shakers

 

The scores of the last 6 games the Earthquakes have played have been 1-5, 1-1, 1-7, 0-0, 1-1, and 1-6.  That's 5 goals for San Jose and 20 against.  One of those 1-1 score lines was our game in San Jose.  Almeyda has the Quakes playing a man marking system they're not up to playing and they're getting run.  The Rapids need to add to their misery tomorrow.  Play our fittest, fastest guys and make them work at altitude.  Kickoff is at 7pm and yes, still on Altitude.

This assumes Wilson's and Namli's knocks they picked up this weekend are enough to keep them from starting tomorrow.  If they're able to go Wilson goes in for Moor and Namli for Lewis, with Shinyashiki moving to the left.  Expect us to play an un-tempo high-press game as we try to beat the Quakes man-making system and run them out of gas at elevation.

Prediction: 3-1 win, goals by Bassett, Rubio, and Lewis.  I think, even on short rest, the Rapids can punish San Jose at home.  While they hang in for a while, getting a goal to keep things interesting, we put it away with a late goal.