Colorado Rapids vs. Seattle, July 28, 7:00 p.m. - P/I/P

Isn't it time for one of these?

Discuss.

I think everyone is still in shock over our Swansea victory.

Oh Rapids, how will you underwhelm me this time?

A terrabite to zero, Sounders.

Rapids are gonna win. They have to have learned something about the Sounders in Seattle.

The Rapids will face a different Seattle team this match. Gspurning likely will be back in goal. Seattle may be at full strength for this match.

Let's just hope we don't draw Kennedy or Toledo for this one.

I hate to say it, because I should have more faith, but I'm completely in a "I expect the Rapids to lose every game from here on out, until they prove otherwise" mode. Even the Swansea game didn't get me out of that frame of mind.

On the plus side, that means my expectations can only be met or exceeded.

I see a Rapids victory as likely as I did against Toronto and RSL.

I do think the Rapids will show fight, will not give up and show some good things on the field* But the team will need to do better, need to win games like this at home**

*OP, feel free to use/paraphrase for your post game remarks after the loss.
** Ditto for Drew.

I'm going with 2-0 loss. We're likely to see only two of the Swansea starters on Saturday; hell I say start em all, at least they showed some desire. If Hill gets no playing time (I've given up on him ever getting a start in league play), then well... I dunno what I'll do... I guess I'll be confused (or something).

I'm personally in the "I expect the Rapids to lose every game until we play Portland" mode.

Thats still awful. We could conceivably lose 10 games in a row. I still can't fathom that people would still give Pareja a free pass if that happens.

My prediction is that I'll be saying "******** this, time to go back to watching the Olympics" after 30 minutes of play.

If we lose again, I nominate this for the forum tagline.

Or as Bill Simmons would put it, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the attacking soccer of your 2012 Colorado Rapids!!!!"

3-2 Rapids with goals by Hill, Casey and Rivero. OK, seriously, how about just Hill getting minutes? At this point, I'm willing to settle for that.

We have Paul Ward as center ref. The last time we saw him was the crazy match in San Jose last year where Pablo talked the RA into calling a handball in the box, resulting in a PK.

If L-L-L-L-L becomes L-L-L-L-L-L, the Rapids will tie their record losing streak that came near the end of the 1997 season. Of course, the 1997 record was 13-12-0 before the streak, four of the six losses came on the road. And that season ended up with the Rapids playing for the Cup. The record now is just about a felony at 7-13-1, with three of the five consecutive losses on the road. A loss or a draw would also make this the worst July in Rapids history.

BTW, July has been a weird month for the Rapids, and hasn't been much of a predictor for where the season ends up. The best July was 4-0-0 in 2003, and the Rapids had a quick playoff exit that year. The two worst July records were 2007 and, surprisingly, 2010. In 2007, the Rapids went 0-1-3, when two draws broke the last five-game losing streak. That July was the second month of the awful ten-game winless streak. The Rapids didn't make the playoffs that year. In the Cup year, the Rapids went 0-2-3 in July, then started their amazing and scrappy run for the Cup as soon as August arrived.

fernandez was traded to the fire... so no more floppy

Lineup prediction:

No start for Hill, unfortunately, but he will get minutes, dammit. My takeaway from Swansea was how good it looked to get our best players on the ball together. Smith, Hill, and Castrillon looked great together, and if we can throw Rivero in there too...

----------Casey-----Cummings----------
Castrillon------Rivero-------Mullan
--------------Larentowicz----------------
Zapata/Wahl---Moor---Wynne---Freeman
----------------Pickens-----------------------

I get the feeling they'll still find a way.

Only if they also traded Montero, Rosales and Johnson.

Edu and Casey are both listed as questionable for tomorrow.

Is Edu listed that way due to injury or has O.P. started reading Big Soccer? ;>)

1-1 draw, goal by Larentowicz. I don't see the Rapids breaking their winless streak tomorrow, but I think they can get a point out of this game. Ginger will score fro a free kick but once again a defensive mental mistake will cost us points.

http://view-from-the-couch.blogspot.com/2012/07/faster-higher-stronger.html

R foot contusion

Koz had a "foot contusion" before he was traded. Is it wrong for me to hope?

Regardless of injury status, Edu is always "questionable". ZING!

Ever since the Dallas debacle I am now operating in a state of paranoia. The Rapids may play very well for much of the match - but at some point will give a gift goal or two to the opposition. It's really hard to watch. I wonder if it would be easier on me if they Rapids just sucked for 90 minutes rather than five or ten.

Tonight I'll be watching for defensive cohesion and communication. If they can do so for 90 minutes they have a shot at a good result.

On the attacking side it looks like Casey and Edu won't be 100%. I wonder if we'll see Hill and perhaps Akpan at some point?