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

Borussia Mönchengladbach is a five-time Bundesliga champion club from Mönchengladbach. They actually are a second division club which was relegated after a particularly bad season last year (6-20-8). But they’re doing quite well this year and are in first place, six points ahead with five matches to go. They’re planning on getting back into the Bundesliga next year, and are looking to start the year with a US preseason tour. This is reportedly a result of the MLS-Bundesliga partnership that apparently started last year. Honestly, I never heard of it, but if it gets stuff like this done, cool.

This should be good. The match will take place sometime during July 13-23. I’m looking forward to seeing another big club hosted by Dick’s. And according to Terry Cooke, MLS’s quality is about that of high European second division/low first division, so who knows? They might get a win against them. This is one more match I will definitely be attending.

If you missed it, the first half of the game featured a Glinton goal-that-wasn’t called back on a hand-ball and several pretty bad misses by Ronnie O’Brian. But O’Brian made up for it with the game winner in the 43rd. In the second half, the Rapids had one real opportunity at the start, but failed to control the ball much thereafter. In 61st, O’Brian got an assist to go with his goal when he slotted the ball past Erpen to Kei Kamara who scored to put the game away.

Last week during San Jose – Chicago, when there was that monstrosity of a miss by Shea Salinas of San Jose in stoppage time, the announcer said, “San Jose just can’t score. Everything else is good, but the scoring gets away.” I think that was a good description of their first two games, but bad news for the rest of MLS: they can score now. San Jose didn’t look like an expansion team tonight.

So, what do the Rapids take from this? Mainly, the 4-4-2 just isn’t for them. We tried to make it work all of last year and apparently this match, moving Colin up to forward. I really hope the team moves back to the 4-5-1. They have no trouble scoring IF they dominate the midfield. From left to right: Cooke, DiRaimondo, Gomez, LaBrocca, Clark. When Pablo gets healthy, put him in LaBrocca’s place.

One thing worth noting though is that the Rapids played defense very well, despite the two goals. It would have been three or four for most defenses. If you watch the extended highlights over at Quick Kicks, especially in the first half, it’s is mostly the Rapids back four breaking up San Jose’s attacks. Before tonight, the Rapids averaged only one goal allowed per game, and that same defense was there despite the shoddy midfield work.

So, let’s stay optimistic Rapids fans. Talent like we saw in the first three games doesn’t just disappear. I am fairly sure the Rapids will take the west back, (maybe not next week, they play Chicago at Toyota Park; yikes) and are still very capable of having an incredible year. One game in thirty is a shame to loose but not the end of the season. Worst case scenario (depending on how tomorrow’s games go): is that the Rapids are in second place in the west, 2 pts. back. I’m going to be cheering for a draw in the Chivas USA – Dallas game tomorrow. If the draw happens, the Rapids will still be tied for first place.

So, in summary, I guess it’s fair to stay that this was a disheartening loss, but not a decimating one. This should just be a single error in an otherwise great season.

Box Score
Highlights

4/21 UPDATE: I’m reading something strange (by my reckoning) on the Rapids blog row (i.e. Black Panther, a fine Rapids fan blog). Even over at The MLS Offside, there is an insistence that the Rapids played poor defense on Saturday. I think that’s a bit off. If they mean that the team as a whole did a poor job preventing opportunities by the ‘Quakes, then they might have a point, but that happened in the midfield, and those mistakes (mostly) were made by midfielders. If they were talking about the back four themselves, I couldn’t disagree more. The defense’s (as in defenders’) job is break down attacks by the other squad. In the game I watched, the back four did a fine job doing that. As I said, most defenses would have allowed three or four against that attack. The fatal errors were in the midfield, not the backfield; things like battles for lose balls, heading contests, and simple maintaining of possession.

Hi. My name is Kyle. I like the Rapids. A lot.

I am your new writer here at The Rapids Offside. I’m very excited to be taking over and subjecting someone besides my cat to my rants about Colorado’s soccer club. Actually I don’t have a cat. Just confused neighbors who wonder why the guy in the next apartment is always yelling about rivers.

So, what do I have to say that you might like to hear? Well, foremost: I am a Rapids fan. I’ve been there with you be it at INVESCO or Dick’s. To use the cliché, I’ve been with you through the highs, the lows, and the 10 game winless streaks. I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep after the Second Leg of the 2006 Playoffs. I spent a day alone in the dark after the last game of the 2007 season. And I could spend all day watching Marcelo’s famous bicycle over and over again if I wanted to get nothing done. If I want to have a self-deprecating laugh, I watch Pablo get a red card in Germany (“Agh, direkte rotekarte?! Gelb, ja! Rot?!” I took German in high school. That announcer kills me.).

I know what it’s like to be a Rapids fan because I am one. I know what it’s like to follow this team that has spent 12 years accomplishing very little in this league. Their only title: 1997 Western Conference Champions, and admittedly, I hadn’t discovered soccer at that point, so I didn’t see it.

But now, it’s 2008 and all of a sudden, there’s a lot to be optimistic about as a Rapids fan. Here we are at the top of the West. The best midfield in soccer plays in Colorado. We have to beat the Galaxy to get into the US Cup (and I think we all know that the Rapids can do that; 4-0 baby!). Arguably, the Colorado Rapids are the best team in MLS this year.

I guess, then, I’ll start off my tenure here at The Rapids Offside with some season predictions. Don’t laugh; I’m serious about these:
1) The Rapids will make the playoffs. And hey, that’s actually an accomplishment with 14 teams in the league.
2) The Rapids will play in the 2009 SuperLiga and 2009-10 Champions League.
3) The Rapids will play in MLS Cup this year.
4) I can’t bring myself to type this last one. I don’t want to perform the ultimate jinx.

I’m not just pulling wild predictions to try and draw an audience and sound smart if they happen to occur (I can’t stand sportswriters who do that. Really? Hawaii’s really going to win the Sugar Bowl? Yeah, you’re a genius, every other guy on ESPN). I’m basing these entirely on the Rapids’ performance in the first three games. And I know I part ways with my predecessor, Jeff, with regards to the New England game. That was a game played in a downpour with two five-man midfields. Any win in those circumstances will be dodgy.

So, how’s that for a rambling introduction? As you can tell, I’m very optimistic about this season, and I think, for good reason. Check back for a preview of Colorado Rapids – San Jose Earthquakes and I will see you at Dick’s tomorrow.

Go Rapids!

I rolled out my (half-blind, hence limited) thoughts on the Colorado Rapids tough loss to April’s Major League Soccer (MLS) flavor-of-the-month, the Kansas City Wizards. Fortunately, and as always, the Web restored my sight (Allelujah!) courtesy of game wraps by View From The Couch and wewantrapidman. You’ll find different formats – e.g. the former likes his bullet points and A’ing the Q’s he put to himself earlier, while the latter has a groovy stream-of-consciousness feel – but, among the names glowing on both sites, one name glows in both places: John DiRaimondo. In fact, DiRaimondo and his midfield running mate, John LaBrocca, enjoyed such a solid Saturday that they caught BigFoot-level attention: yes, Steve Davis made the duo the lead story for his Week 2 wrap for MLSnet.com. Good vibrations, Rapids fans, good vibrations…

…enough to get you wondering, by the way, why I don’t rate the Rapids higher in my Week 2 power rankings…though I think I explain it adequately.

Going back a week further – and this is where the “Busted Knee” thing snuck into the conversation – the reaction to Ciaran O’Brien’s red-card tackle on Carlos Ruiz continues to draw a little chatter; that could be down to MLS’s disciplinary committee going beyond the minimum sentence. The Black Panther Blog posted video of the tackling offense and one could imply from the copy that he’s not sold on the decision (it’s a terse comment and hard to read into; I don’t know what lev yashin actually thinks, only that his comment could be interpreted as contrarian). Not surprisingly, red cards have stirred conversation even this early in the season: The Original Winger held forth on several of individual incidents just last Tuesday…O’Brien’s among them.

To weigh in for myself, There’s no doubt, in my mind at least, that O’Brien’s tackle was dangerous. I am, however, less sold on the need for “bonus time and fines” being levied against the lad, for the reasons The Original Winger lays out. To sum up, start punishing stupid and the cards and fines will start flying.

All for now. Sorry this is a bit disjointed, but I’ve got a lot in the hopper today. I’ll get back to all y’all Friday.

I figure MLSLIVE.tv owes me about 50 cents. I’m considering tacking on some money for pain and suffering – I mean, here I am, primed to tell you about how the Rapids lost to KC and I got less than nuthin’ – but haven’t yet settled on a figure. I’m thinking, say, the low millions – ’cause this hurts real bad…and there’s this crink in my neck since – but, like I said, I haven’t settled on a figure.

Suffice to say, I didn’t see this game. Did catch the highlights, though, and – shuey! – what a second half I missed! All y’all will have to tell me about it…seriously, if you guys don’t provide some copy, I’m hung-out to dry here…so, please, anyone who caught the game should feel 150% free to tell me what I missed. If you just want to link to this article, hey, beats a kick in the head for drumming up traffic. I think I had something like 1,300 visitors last month…oh yeah….all right, I can’t make you famous, but you can make all of us smarter, so give it up. That goes double for anyone who made the road-trip.

Based on what I did see – again, just the highlights – I’d forward the following questions:

- Set piece defending: 1) was it as bad as it looked; 2) would you chalk it up to having the players better left to the “kids’ table” handling the piping hot gravy-boat before they’re ready.

- Your thoughts on the Rapids’ goals: I liked Jose Burciaga’s all right – even if Hartman shouldn’t have let that one in – but the other one….well, that ain’t gonna happen every week, now is it? Still, great work by Omar Cummings to let that go for…um…John DiRaimondo. Unselfish and alert isn’t exactly going to keep you off the field…good finish, too.

- OK, if MLSLIVE.tv didn’t take a giant crap on your afternoon (ooh…I think my knee hurts to; better call Dr. Nick), how did you think the Rapids did? On paper, this is about what I expected, if not a little better. A team can do worse after a opening day, home slaughter than a hard-fought home loss against a decent team.

All for now. I’ll tie some things up tomorrow…can’t say what yet…mainly ’cause I don’t know.

Still, there is something I can do: send traffic to those Rapids-centric sites – something I’ll do below – and, when applicable, praise them; that can be my contribution to building the Rapids’ base. Something else I can do: provide a slightly more dispassionate take on what’s happening in Rapids-land. For what it’s worth, I see value in both activities…and I respect the opinion of those Rapids fans who count the first contribution as the more significant. So let’s get straight to that and, with it, move on to the other items in the title – e.g. post-game musings and my educability.

In my post-game comments, I floated the idea that Colorado seemed set on the same offensive approach – e.g. flying down the wings and banging in crosses; moreover, I didn’t see Christian Gomez as much of a factor. The two Swella Fellas over at FC Rocky, George Tanner and Angel Fernandez, took a different view – a diametrically opposed view, in fact:

“Finally, the Rapids pushed forward vertically. Gomez’s presence had much to do with this (more on that later … ).”

[SNIP]

“Gomez was able to create scoring chances individually. He set up Cooke’s goal with his quick shot off the post, and he essentially put the game out of reach with a solid PK.”

[SNIP]

“In the 37th minute, Gomez freed the speedy Cummings with a sweet flick forward. The key word there is ‘forward.’ For YEARS this team has relied on playing the ball safely and unimaginatively to the wings and settling for a cross from the sideline. But if Saturday’s game was an indication, Gomez has planted the seed with this team: It’s a good idea to go straight at the defense sometimes.”

Just so you know, for all the love they send to Gomez, FC Rocky, like everyone else it seems, saved the biggest gushes for Terry Cooke…no wonder he got player of the week.

But I wanted to use that mega-(and-hopefully-not-legally-oversized)-excerpt to make a point: I didn’t see the same thing, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t just miss it. In fact, I kind of see what they’re getting at and that gives me something to watch for this week and the next and the next. The point is, I miss plenty; reading other peoples’ perspectives has the capacity to make me smarter at the very least. I won’t always agree, but it – as in watching and thinking and writing about this soccer stuff – is all about building a better understanding of the game. I’m willing to learn….questions of ability to do so notwithstanding…

With that in mind, I have a couple other pieces to pass on. wewantrapidman reserved some of his highest praise for the youthful stand-ins who played so well last Saturday – most notably, Stephen Keel and Kosuke Kimura. And that’s some good news, judging by current mini-plague of injuries – also posted on wewantrapidman. View From The Couch also posted entirely praiseworthy match analysis that ran the gamut between As to his own Qs, match facts, and random observations. Anyone wanting to learn about the Rapids could do a hell of a lot worse than to read these sites.

Speaking of a hell of a lot worse, it’s time to check in with The Official Organ – i.e. the Rapids’ official site, i.e. the narrow font of information from which, absent thorough coverage in the local MSM, Rapids fans learn about their team. Their weekly update spent the first few paragraphs doing what corporate mouthpieces do: go down on the product. That’s not to say there’s no “nutritional value” in there; after all, the piece contains the first mention I’ve seen of the Rapids U.S. Open Cup date with the Los Angeles Galaxy (May 27). Better still, it connects to – I’ll admit it – a wicked cool preview set-up for this weekend’s game against the Kansas City Wizards. Loathe to admit it as I am, it’s not just well-organized, but all techy and smart as well. You got me there, Official Organ…just don’t get it in my hair*. (*Sorry. Wow. Really, really sorry.)

Once your stomachs settle down, do read up on the apparent signing of Tam MacManus, the Scottish striker who has been skulking around the Rapids camp for some time now. Looks like they got ‘im and that he’ll be playing this weekend. The question, though, is what they got.

That said, the prediction bug is going around like a benign flu in a box full of flu victims. For example, FC Rocky compiled a cool little project in which they invited Colorado Rapids bloggers (plus Brucio from Du Nord and Lionel Bienvenu) to post predictions on the 2008 season. The guys from Class VI, Black Panther, WeWantRapidsMan, and FC Rocky throw out some interesting stuff – including disproportionate and undue love for Red Bull New York. But turning to what all y’all (are you out there?) are here to read – e.g. stuff about the Rapids – the local consensus pegs Colorado at either second or third in the Western Conference. Not too shabby.

For what it’s worth, however, a collective poll I organize for Center Holds It has the Rapids tied for 9th/10th with the LA Galaxy. If this leaves you feeling depressed, think of it this way: Saturday’s game should be pretty good.

Well, that’s that. Tomorrow’s the opener. Injuries acknowledged, I like the Rapids chances – quite a bit, actually. LA’s defense – combining “green” players with slow, older ones – should give the Rapids offense a chance to work on their attacking chemistry. And fatigue should take care of LA’s star attackers, David Beckham due to Wednesday’s game against France and Landon Donovan after his heroic exertions against Poland.

Last but not least, it seems there’s a new Rapid in town: Kelly Gray joined up fairly recently. My advice on this one: don’t fall too hard for the “versatility trap.” Gray can play all over, but I’ve heard it said he’s better wide right. So, maybe cover/substitution for Terry Cooke, or a right-sided defender? Just a thought.

As for the weekend, I’ll post something after I watch the game…whenever that happens (hell of a weekend coming). So, look for that.

UPDATE: Some of you may not know this is part of a project I assigned myself back in January. If you care to follow that, I posted the final pre-season framing for the project over on Center Holds It.

- Remember that somewhat recent loss to the Bermudan National Team (no? Here ya go!)? If that loss didn’t leave you feeling a little dubious heading into the season, enjoy this little observation from Bermuda Hogges coach Shaun Goater:

“Having said that, I didn’t think Rapids were the best MLS team to have visited Bermuda. The Revs may have come out earlier on in their pre-season preparations but they looked a lot further on than Rapids.”

So…if I’m reading this correctly…Goater is saying that the unfit (read: fat) edition of the New England Revolution is better than a Rapids side with a months worth of fitness on them. Oh, yes, he did.

- So Greg Lalas, given a big, impressive feature for Sports Illustrated, profiles 14 likely impact players for the 2008 season – e.g. roughly one per team. Naturally, he flags Christian Gomez for the Rapids, but seems unable to resist – yes – another little dig:

“Problem is, Colorado doesn’t have the type of marksmen who made Gómez look so good in D.C.”

Wow. OK, maybe it’s deserved for a club that approaches personnel issues like a psychotic girlfriend/stalker boyfriend (see Chase Hilgenbrinck…who, by the way, seems to have already moved on to fresh company…gasp! Not the very same New England Revolution! Will these chance parallels never end?!).

Looks like the Colorado Rapids ended their pre-season on a high in the lower part of our fair nation: they beat the Chicago Fire 1-0 on a goal scored by Stephen Keel. And, to quickly flag some details in the write-up ), note the frequent appearance of the following names in that linked-to article: Ciaran O’Brien, Jose Burciaga Jr., Omar Cummings, and, later, Herculez Gomez. Personally, I find the first two names most encouraging. And the win seems like a good thing too.

A View from the Couch offers up the starting line-up and formation, a 4-5-1 with Cummings on top. The same piece also contains word on who’s gimpy and who’s not.