So Much Talent, Only Eleven Spots

By: Kyle | May 7th, 2008

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.