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

Well if Portland beats Chivas tonight I think they pass us. Then only 2 more in our way.

Yeah, I said that about Portland above. As for the other 2, I also said the Rapid just lost to both so really, I think the Rapids have a legitimate claim on #worst. No pity, just facts.

And our next game is against RSL. That's awesome.

RSL has a mid-week CONCACAF qualifier in Costa Rica; maybe that will slow them down. Wishful thinking I know.

Honestly, at this point I wouldn't care if we lost every other game this year if we could at least beat the RSL once this year.

First Sounders goal just looked like a well run play by Seattle. EJ managed to lose his mark (Wynne I think) in traffic and that left him free to head home. Sucks but sometimes the other guys just perform better than you.

The second goal though, was a complete defensive meltdown. There were 5 defenders (the whole back line + Ginger) in the box against 4 attackers and yet both EJ (on the cross) and Alonso (on thegoal) were unmarked. WTF?

Sadly, despite the loss, that was still the best we looked in a month.

On the first goal I think it was Omar that 'lost' his Grown Ass Man.

Why the hell is Omar the guy assigned to mark EJ then? I saw he was there but I couldn't believe we'd be so stupid as to assume Omar could mark him.

I'm think the Rapids goal front marking is live multi-player version of the game "I got 'em, you get 'em".

http://www.coloradorapids.com/video...on-after-home-loss-seattle-clubs-6th-straight

Pareja takes all responsibility for the lack of positive results, and says players have given "100+ percent". Says it's "embarassing" and that "we are feeling so bad" about the recent run.

Missed the game and could not follow here. Thanks for all the information. A result just as I suspected. Did some one say the Rapids had trouble finishing the many opportunities they created for themselves? Really?

So now we are 2-8 in are last 10 league games. Wow!

We are currently on a 6 game losing streak.

No comment on the game... nothing worthwhile happened tonight.

So , what is the worst record by an MLS team before the coach was fired?

This is reminiscent of the Bobby Houghton year where we canned the coach prior to the end of the season.

This sucks!!!

I had a great time being at the game with my entire family. I think it was the first game we have all been to in a couple of years. The result, however, was very disappointing. I actually enjoyed how the Rapids played for a majority of the game and felt they deserved at least a point. The Rapids did appear to be the better team for 60% of the match, but the finishing was off a touch and Seattle did well with fewer chances partially due to poor marking or communication by Colorado defenders. The first goal off the corner kick I believe was Wynne's fault, as he should not have passed Johnson off to Omar Cummings, who was beat to the header. The second goal also was due to poor marking in the box, so really I feel that our defense lost the game for us. With that said, I bet Conor Casey is quite upset that he didn't score a goal. He certainly came close, but didn't finish as well as he should have. I did really like how Casey looked, but he's got to finish one of those chances. I was a bit surprised by the lineup, but it seemed like it would hold up okay for most of the game. I thought Nane did not have a great game and made a couple poor passes and didn't get open to recieve the ball quickly enough. Drew Moor looked good on the flank, as did Zapata, but the central defensive duo of Marshall and Wynne was not good. Wynne looked a bit out of it, I don't remember him playing with such a lack of confidence. Marshall is solid tacticly most of the time, but his athleticism is waning for sure as evidenced by EJ making him look slow and silly 1v1. Rivero was great at times and I thought he looked good on the wing and making surges to the center and opposite side (he was really all over the place) but he occasionally makes a poor pass or doesn't connect as well as you would like to see. He lacks consistency, yet has technical skills that his teammates lack. Larentowicz plays with passion and physicality and took some decent outside shots, but not on frame. Mullan was physical and hard working as well and had some nice crosses. Omar was pretty active in this game and the Casey and Cummings partnership looked to be clicking again. I don't blame Pareja for subbing Cummings out for Kamani Hill, but I thought Cummings seemed more dangerous than Hill, who really didn't bring much energy in my opinion. Wells Thompson did fine, though I would have preferred to see Jamie Smith come in and have Rivero shift more centrally. Akpan had little to no effect. Oh, and Pickens was fine, but rightfully upset with the poor marking in front of him on the two goals. Well, that's my analysis. Poor result, but the play wasn't all that bad really.

In all honesty, I'm almost (almost) hoping we lose next Saturday just so we can say we accomplished something historic this season. It would also be sadly amusing to follow up an MLS Cup and a playoff run with the franchise record for consecutive losses. I've done my best to support OP and give him the benefit of the doubt; but seriously, coaches get sacked all the time for less than this. Whether he deserves to be fired or not, it's almost gotten to the point where a sacrificial offering is required. The self-destruction of this team is monumental. Fortunately Spenny's resume is all nice and updated...

Pareja literally has no idea what he's doing. It really is mind-boggling to me that people are still beating this drum about him needing more time.

He is so clueless and so far over his head that it not even funny. I've never seen someone so lacking in personality, resolve, and tactical intelligence when managing a professional team. He should go back to coaching kids, that is much more his speed.

Wynne got caught on a pick set by Parke. Hard for me to tell, but I think Moor was in position just outside the 6 yd box to pick him up but stayed glued to his spot watching EJ run by and score.

Yeah, I think you are right. I was commenting on what I remember seeing live, but I just checked the highlights and it does look like Wynne stumbled across a screen and Moor could have helped mark the open EJ. The second goal was just a great volley by Alonso, but where was the marking in the box?

So he is resigning then? That is actually taking responsibilty for what, 6 loses in a row, or is it just more talking bollocks like that shite about playing attractive, winning football? Which we have seen zero of.

To answer the question, how will the Rapids disappoint me this time? The exact same way they have all season. It’s not like we are finding new ways to lose, nope it’s just been the one way over and over again. The question makes it sound like we’ve been on an interesting and fun wild ride full of near misses with late 80’s Loyloa style shootouts.

I just watched the same game and result as the 4th. Come in to the Dick and get your 3 points by cherry picking off the Keystone Troopers and then put 11 in the back until the end and thanks for the points suckers. Any comments about, "well we controlled more possession" or "we had more chances" completely ignores the tactics at play at our expense. There has not been an answer to this all season, just the same failure to finish and poor lack line communication soccer that barley worked against a 10 man Dallas and needed wind aid at home against the Impact.

The only play I liked today was The Holy Hacker taking down Rose after Rose thought he would be cute with his elbow trying to drive His Holiness down. It’s nice to see someone out there has some fight in him.

I feel like we are being asked to oooh and ahhh the one trick pony after its bow even after we saw it the first week and few people were impressed. Seriously...... Was Fat Sigi not going to have an answer to this one trick? But I guess WTH, it’s a (1-2-3-4-5 year plan), in year two the horse will suddenly know how to shoot an arrow off of a flaming tight rope. Lord knows it might actually be easier to snag a sponsor for a three trick pony.

Maybe it’s time for me to take Bonji’s 2008 advise and just go see a concert at Red Rocks or something, anything else. I think he suggested Daft Punk, and I can’t help but to think that the Daft Punk show has a better finish than watching handlers haul the horse away after its head got caught in the curtain….. Oh and I bet the good people at AEG Live haven’t banned Teddy either.

There are three teams with worse records: TFC, Portland and Dallas. The first two have fired coaches earlier this season. Of sad note, the Rapids have three points on TFC who were the joke of the start of the season.

In fairness, it used to be that MLS coaches talked about taking three years to get their teams together. There were several additions to the team and the experiment with the 4-3-3. However, it baffles me that (despite some injuries) we have the core of the MLS championship and last year's playoff team together yet the Rapids are inept on the field.

I thought, with the changes and the strength in the West, we'd be vying for the last playoff spot this season. However, I didn't expect to see a weekly display of buffoonary. As Sir Alex Ferguson says, "Football, bloody hell!"

OK, having vented, where do the Rapids go from here?
Coach: we don't want a TFC-like coaching revolving door but more of the same and OP has to go this season.
Style: The 4-3-3 isn't working, we look better with a 4-2-2.
Players: The RFO was obviously looking at the transfer market with that South African kid. Assuming Pablo retires after the season (he sounded good on Altitude by the way), that frees up $400K of salary cap. Use that to backload (less this year, more next year) a DP contract, I'd go with a lower hit on "young" DP. This doesn't need to be a multi-million dollar deal, just higher than $400K to get a quality player. I wouldn't look in Europe but rather for a Montero like South American or African player. I think what we're lacking is a good partner for JL which frees him to move up more. Otherwise, go for a younger defender.
Other: Shirt sponser? The Rapids need this now. If not, give the shirt sponserships away to charity for the free publicity ... Colorado unfortunately has more than enough worthy charities this year. Finally, pet project: if able, loan our young players to NASL or USL-Pro teams to get them quality minutes week in, week out. We need to look towards the future.

Well, the team at least LOOKED better... and Nane did better in midfield than Castrillon. JL is looking frustrated.

I'm officially done with OP. Was giving him a chance, but this isn't just first year learning curve. But... I remember Hyndeman's first year in FCD. He only won 8 games that first season. Until this year, he'd been doing pretty good.

I'm ready to see Pablo in a suit on the sidelines. Can't hurt to give him a chance.

Pickens said this...

I've always been of the opinion that you give a coach at least one year, no matter the sport. Football, basketball, soccer etc. Give'm a year. This coach doesn't deserve that. You don't take a team that won a championship 2 years ago, went to the playoffs last year, and then turn them into once of the worst teams in the league.

I'm not a defender of Gary Smith necessarily either. I thought he had run his course with the Rapids. Even the year we won the championship we were barely squeaking into the playoffs. That was common under Smith.

But good grief, how terrible of a coach do you have to be for dismantling a team so bad? And coaches are supposed to fix problems. And when it's the SAME freakin problem week in and week out you gotta figure out an answer.

I would fully support the firing of OP at this point. I also wouldn't be surprised to see the FO give him a 2 year extension.

I would say that it'd be nice if his privet jet slammed into the side of a mountain, but then I'd feel bad for the pilots.