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.

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