Houston Dynamo 2-1 Colorado Rapids
By: Kyle |
2 Comments
If you had told me before the game that a Rapids player would make a game losing error, literally the last person I would have guessed would have been Ugo Ihemelu.
Other then the Ugo error, the Rapids continued pretty much every trend from their past few games. They played good defense (exceptional in the case of Erpen and Kimura), contested the midfield, and had many opportunities which they didn’t finish. Same old story.
One insight I picked up when watching the game though was that I think a big source of the Rapids inability to finish is Omar. He’s kind of a ball-hog. He tries to shoot even when there’s no shot instead of passing it off to McManus. That works okay when he’s the lone forward, but if the Rapids are going to use a spot on another forward, Omar’s going to need to learn to utilize him. In a sense, Omar’s a forward not a striker.
Christian continued his midfield domination, but he’s either going to have to start taking better corners, or we have to Terry back in the lineup. Those low-and-right-at-the-first-defender kicks just don’t cut it.
The ejections were a little strange, too. Who is Gary Smith?
As for Houston, they really played the best game of their season so far today. If they keep it up, they might get back into playoff contention.
Have you ever heard that where a team is at the quarter-season mark is where they are likely to end up? It’s fairly accurate in Europe, probably less so in MLS, but still pretty good. At least, I hope it is, because this is it, and the Rapids are in first place.
So, now the only solution is to take out one of the most frustrating losses of all time on our next opponents…Salt Lake.
Tags: Careful Rapids, They Used to be The Houston Dynamo
By: Kyle | 4 Comments
”We tried very hard not to be overconfident, because when you get overconfident, that’s when something snaps up and bites you.”
-Neil Armstrong
The San Jose game comes to mind. Let’s just hope that this weekend isn’t a repeat of that game. The Earthquakes the Rapids played are very similar to Houston: poor scoring and no wins. The players really can’t afford acknowledge that, though. That’s a big part of how upsets happen: the good team expects this win to come easier then the last ones and plays accordingly. They cease to be the good team and become a team who’s playing poorly on purpose. If the Rapids pretend this is still the team which won the MLS Cup last year, they’ll be fine.
On Saturday, the Rapids have a game against the worst team in soccer. If I was a neutral observer and sports betting were legal, I would have to get 6/1 to bet on Houston, at least.
Why? Simple, Houston can’t score. They average 0.83 goals per game, second worst in MLS. That few goals will sometimes get you a draw and usually a loss. And sure enough, Houston’s record is perhaps the biggest spot on their resume: 0-2-4. Six games with no wins is hauntingly familiar.
In fact, watching Houston remands me a lot of watching the Rapids’ play last year during the ten game loosing streak. There are a lot of attempts at easy solutions like kicking over the defense and hoping a forward makes a good run, all the while losing the midfield battle so that if your risky maneuver pays off, they’ve already put a few goals away on you. It should be nice watching the Rapids on the other side of that equation this year.
Another trend that would be nice to see end: The Rapids have never beat Houston on the road.
My Prediction: Houston 1-2 Colorado
And I’m being generous with that goal, Houston.
Other Game Predictions:
Real Salt Lake 1-2 Dallas
San Jose Earthquakes 0-1 Columbus Crew
Los Angeles Galaxy 1-2 New York Red Bulls (Maybe this is low-balling it for the Gals. Landon is on pace for 40 goals this season. Let’s hope he still feels that way against England, Spain, and Argentina).
Chivas USA 2-2 New England Revolution
UPDATE: I forgot to mention the worst part of Houston’s rapid decline: Houston is going to be representing the United States in the Champions League and SuperLiga this year. That’ll be a little embarrassing. At least DC is still…oh crap.
So Much Talent, Only Eleven Spots
By: Kyle | 1 Comment
One of the best problems a soccer team can have is having too many good players to field them all. That, and the ability to adapt the line-up to different opponents, is a sign of a good soccer team. The Rapids have both.
The biggest question on my mind as we await the game against Houston (with much anticipation, by the way) is who will be starting. The Rapids showed at the beginning of the year that they can play well in the 4-5-1. I would still prefer it because, as I’ve stated and overstated here on The Rapids Offside, this team’s power is in its midfield. A 4-5-1 allows the Rapids to keep LaBrocca on the field, and if there’s a spot for another midfielder, he’s certainly earned it. On the other hand, a 4-4-2 gets another forward up there, and Peterson’s goal in his first start this year makes a compelling case for it.
If I had to choose now, and everyone was healthy, it would go something like this:
———————Bouna——————–
—Kosuke—Facundo—Ugo—Jose—
Terry—Pablo—Christian—Nick—Colin
——————-Herculez——————-
That striker up front is a hard choice, but with a five man midfield (a few of which are very capable of scoring), Herculez, Jacob, Tom, or Omar are all fine choices.
But, looking at The Match Up page on the Rapids website, Fernando is trying something different this week. It’s right about 2/3 of the time, but it has projected Jordan Harvey playing in the back instead of Jose, Terry and Colin are benched (like last week), and Peterson’s on the left wing. If this is right, it sound’s like something Fernando might do. He seems to be playing around with the line-up while it’s still early in the season and the Rapids have a couple of easier games ahead of them, and that might be a good idea. I will certainly be interested to see how this works out, and if there’s any early season game that’s good for trying this out, it’s this one.
Colorado Rapids 2-0 DC United
By: Kyle | Add Comments
How good are the Rapids? On Sunday, the Rapids outplayed DC United by any measure, and I still think they underperformed. I really think they could have scored three or four if they had just finished on a few of the opportunities they had in the first half. That’s how good they are.
The match on Sunday was a great way to get back into the swing of things. The man of the match was defiantly Christian with two assists. Another high point was seeing Jacob Peterson back in the lineup. He gets better every year, and netted the game winner.
The 4-4-2 made it’s reappearance at Dick’s. Amazingly Colin Clark and Terry Cooke were absent in the starting lineup. Even though the Rapids did well, I would still like to go back to the five man midfield, but if they keep winning, of course I won’t make a fuss about it.
So, now not only is Colorado back in first place again, they next play the worst team in soccer, and then Salt Lake at home. So now it’s time to start looking at qualification for some international competitions next year. The Rapids are one point back from the last SuperLiga spot, and four points back from qualifying for the Champions League in the regular season. With the West in the shape it’s in this year, the Rapids could really get quite a few points ahead of the rest of the conference with their upcoming games.
The only other team in the West who is on par with the Rapids is Dallas. They their next games are against Salt Lake and Las Angeles, so these are important games for the Rapids to win.
UPDATE: Holy cow. Look at this Box Score. 17 shots. 17. No wonder DC allows 2 goals per game if they allow that many looks on goal. If not for some embarrassing misses by the Rapids, that would have been a blow out. It looks like there’s not a lot of defense being played in DC this year.
How’s That DP Slot Treating You, DC?
By: Kyle | 2 Comments
Sometimes I think people talk about sports by saying really simple things in an overcomplicated way. For example: the Rapids game versus United on Sunday really comes down to which team shows up. In most of their games, the Rapids proved to be a formidable club capable of scoring a lot of goals. But the San Jose game proved them to be very capable of having a bad outing. So it really depends on which team we see. In other words, will they play like the team that wins or the team that loses? Great insight, huh?
Let’s be more specific: midfield. I’ve stressed it a lot in previous posts. But it really is the strength of this club. Christian has really served as a linchpin for the midfield and, by extension, the whole team. I’ve never seen one player open up an entire team’s capabilities like him.
Which brings me to tomorrow’s game. Christian versus his former team. In case you haven’t noticed, DC is having trouble this year. They’re not that good. They’ll be lucky if they make the playoffs if they keep this up. What I wonder is how much has Christian’s trade been part of that. Clearly, the guy enhances the ability of anyone he takes the field with. Other then him, this is the same Colorado Rapids of last year, and yet watching then versus now is like night and day.
When the Rapids traded their Designated Player slot to DC for Gomez, the “experts” like the guys at ESPN were quick to call the Rapids suckers. But I wasn’t so sure for two reasons. Firstly, Christian had the capability to do all of the things the Rapids couldn’t last year. Despite Pablo’s efforts, the midfield just wasn’t there. Under virtually no circumstance did the Rapids control play. On the wings, they were decent but they would either hit the wall once they tried to move forward or just fall into the habit of trying to kick over the midfield, which usually doesn’t work to well. Gomez, on the other hand, can control the midfield, maybe better then anyone else in the league.
Secondly, which would you rather have, a solid, proven player, or a big name? Ideally with the DP slot you get both, but has that happened yet? Has a team with a DP won ANYTHING? At all? Think about it: Houston won the league, New England won the Open Cup, Pachuca won the Champion’s Cup and SuperLiga. Competitions made up so that LA could win, like the Pan-Pacific Championship, didn’t happen that way. Even the rivalry cups that were contested by one team with and one team without a DP went to the team without one: Chivas USA over LA in the SuperClasico and Houston over Dallas in the Texas Derby.
If Colorado wanted to get a player like Gomez, they had to give up something big. What else did they have? Mid-round Draft picks? Mediocre players? The DP slot was about the only leverage they had. And from the looks of what has happened so far this year, it worked.
So, to the game tomorrow. DC fans would have you believe that they are revitalized by the win over Salt Lake, but I’m not convinced. The best match up will be Gallardo vs. Pablo or Christian (depending on DC’s choice of formation). DC allows a ton of goals (2 per game, 3rd worst in the league), so if the Rapids plan on getting their high-scoring style back, tomorrow would be a good day. While it’s unlikely, if San Jose can keep Dallas from winning, the Rapids would take the West back with a win. They would have a little work to do still to get back in contention for SuperLiga qualification, but the Rapids have a pretty easy couple of games, so now’s as good of a time as any.
My prediction: Colorado Rapids 2-1 DC United.
The Rapids have been allowing a few more goals then I would like recently, so DC might slip one in on them, but the Rapids should have no trouble scoring against DC’s defense.
Other game predictions:
New England Revolution 1-1 Chicago Fire
Columbus Crew 1-1 Kansas City Wizards
Houston Dynamo 2-2 Chivas USA
Real Salt Lake 2-3 Los Angeles Galaxy (Can’t they both lose?)
San Jose Earthquakes 0-1 Dallas
DC United 1-2 Chicago Fire
C.U. Loves Liverpool
By: Kyle | Add Comments
Here’s an interesting look into the Colorado soccer scene (or the Boulder soccer scene at least; for those not from Colorado, Boulder is very different from the rest of Colorado, and both parties usually prefer it that way). I’m a student at CU and I had an unusual gap in my schedule today, so I sneaked over to the section of the Student Center where they actually have a big screen reserved for soccer fans on Champion’s League match days. Upping the number of European matches I can stand watching this year to 3, I took in the Pensioners – Reds game. It was actually an exciting game, even though I have contempt for both of those clubs.
However, while there, I learned something interesting: CU has an extremely devoted following of Liverpool fans. It was like a Liverpool pub in there. I’ve never seen such a concentrated collection of fans for a single European club like that in my life. Needless to say there was lots of obscene yelling during extra time. I just sat off to the side and tried to explain the away goals to a newcomer. So, in a month I’ll watch the Final between the Red Devils and Pensioners and put European soccer away in my mind and await the arrival of the only Champions League I really care about.
Category: UEFASalt Lake to Play US Cup Qualifier Tonight (Poorly)
By: Kyle | Add Comments
The youngsters over at Salt Lake are going to try and get into the US Open Cup tonight. The match will kick off at 7pm and will be broadcast…nowhere. Honestly, I hate Salt Lake enough that I would, in fact, watch if it were on TV. Is that sad? Yeah, I think that’s sad.
Really, a game like this will probably go to who takes it more seriously, but I wouldn’t be surprised if both sides fielded a somewhat decent lineup. Last year, the Rapids beat Real in a qualifying match at Dick’s. The funny thing is, Salt Lake fielded their starters and the Rapids didn’t, still winning 2-1. If Salt Lake does it again, it will probably be their match to lose.
I post this mainly because it’s good news for the Rapids either way the match goes. If Salt Lake loses…well, that’s just fun. If they manage to slip through, they then face Columbus, who will surely dispatch them. The only bad news is that the Rapids don’t have a chance to eliminate them again this year for the third year in a row, but oh well. As long as Salt Lake loses, I’m happy (I’m a very happy guy).
UPDATE: Real Salt Lake 4-0 San Jose. If the Rapids hadn’t been shut out by San Jose, I would write some clever insult disparaging the significance of this win here.
Chicago Fire 2-1 Colorado Rapids
By: Kyle | 1 Comment
Frickin’ Thorrington.
This is going to sound really lame: scoring a goal against the Fire is a victory in itself; not a “worth three points” victory or a “anyone will care in a week” victory, mind you. It was more of a “moral victory that people like to use as an excuse for failure” kind of victory.
While I’m never okay with any loss, if there is any game in the schedule that it is okay for the Rapids to lose, it’s this one. The Chicago Fire is, in my mind the best team in soccer. Their offense is only a little above average, but their defense might be the best this country has ever seen. 0.6 goals allowed per game is unbelievable. Even though their numbers are starting to drop, the Rapids are still the offensive team we saw at the beginning of the year if they can score against that.
You know when a team loses and says, “Our guys outplayed them, even though we didn’t get more goals” (a practice that has become a habit of Mexico after any defeat). This irks me to no end and you hear it all the time. In a game where the objective is to score more goals then your opponent, if you fail to do that, then by definition you didn’t outplay them. What I think people mean by that is “against most opponents, that would have gotten more goals.” And that’s what I think about the Rapids performance on Saturday. Or maybe we can put it this way: this kind of game would have beat San Jose last week.
But playing “if” is for children and now the Rapids have lost two games in a row. And the crazy thing is, the Rapids are still Western contenders. The rest of the west has kind of been slipping these past few weeks, too. The last two playoff spots being wildcards might come into play again this year.
So this leaves us third in the West, only two points back from first. Things could be a lot worse. And things are probably about to get a lot better, too. Check out our next three games: DC at home, Houston on the road, and then…Salt Lake at home. So, a team who allows a ton of goals, the worst team in the league, and then getting started on obliterating Salt Lake for taking the Rocky Mountain Cup from us? Is it Saturday yet?
Chicago Fire - Colorado Rapids: Preview
By: Kyle | Add Comments
Win your home games, draw your away. If you’ve followed soccer for any time, you’ve probably heard this strategy expressed. I, personally, hate draws. To me they’re hardly better than a loss. In fact they’re 2/3 of a loss and 1/3 of a win. In a playoff race, they’re just as much a two point penalty as they are a one point gain.
So why try for one the road? Because, sometimes, you play a team like the Chicago Fire on the road. And one point is a lot for a team like that to give up in their own stadium.
The Chicago Fire has the best defense in soccer. They allow half a goal per game. That’s one goal every other game. Under traditional sports stats, a typical MLS club has only a 39% chance of scoring on them at all in a given game. The good news is, the Rapids aren’t a typical MLS club. The San Jose game notwithstanding, the Rapids are very good at scoring. Even after being shutout last week, the Rapids have a goal scoring average of 1.75 goals per game, tied for 2nd in MLS. So we’ve got a good goal scoring club going up against a good goal preventing club. It should be a heck of a game at the very least.
Numbers aside, as they have all year, tomorrow’s game will come down to the Rapids midfield, on both sides of the ball. Defensively, the Rapids back four is decent at breaking down attacks. Unfortunately, the Fire is not a typical club in its style of attack. Especially with Blanco, the Fire strikes quickly and without too much complexity. Many of its goals are one-touch blasts. It’s hard to break down something that never really gets set up. The only way to stop an attack like that is to keep the ball out of the Fire’s attacking third. That’s done in the midfield. If the Rapids keep possession out of the Fire’s hands, they have a real good shot at one, or even three points. A big step towards a good midfield tomorrow: wewantrapidman has a tip that Pablo should play (start?).
And three points would be monumental for this club right now. They would be back in first place in the West, one point ahead of Dallas (thanks to New England for beating them last night). If the Rapids only pull off a draw, the worst that could happen would be being tied for second in the West. It’s not great, but it wouldn’t be a disaster.
My Prediction: Chicago Fire 1-1 Colorado Rapids
I hope I’m undercutting it on the Rapids’ side, but the Fire just doesn’t give up goals very easily.
Other Game Predictions:
Toronto 1-2 Kansas City Wizards
Columbus Crew 3-1 Houston Dynamo
DC United 1-2 Real Salt Lake (Wait, what?)
Los Angeles Galaxy 2-3 Chivas USA (Come on, another Beckham “fight”).
New York Red Bulls 1-0 San Jose Earthquakes
Toronto 1-1 New York Red Bulls
Match Preview: MLS
Match Preview: Rapids
UPDATE: I don’t know why I didn’t think to go straight there, but not only is Pablo listed as not injured on the Rapids Match up page, Ugo is listed as Probable. We might have our actual starting XI tomorrow for the first time this year.
Colin Clark on Altitude’s One-on-One
By: Kyle | 1 Comment
For those of you local to Colorado, I just saw an interview with Colin Clark on One-on-One, Altitude’s interview show. The interview was okay, but it wasn’t particularly informative or earth-shattering, so really this is just an excuse to talk about how awesome Colin Clark is, how he would have been a contender for Rookie of the Year if he played for another team last year, and how I’m almost positive he’ll be playing in the World Cup in 2010 or 2014. Seriously, check out this goal again. Unbelievable.
If you want to see the interview it’s being re-aired on the 24th at 7pm or the 26th at 1:30am if you’re a crazy person.
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