Unbelievable. In spite of their bumbling, the Rapids got 3 points out of that. Between now and the next match, will somebody please tell Gatt not to take wild shots toward the goal in the closing seconds when the Rapids have the lead? Please explain to him that killing time > another goal.
You. And yes, I never looked at the weather report. Only looked outside (on Thursday). But it looked like a fun night on the DVR speadthough. And the weather pretty good!
Final stats: Rapids 6 shots, 3 on frame, 1 in net, 60% on passing. SKC, 25 shots (!), 2 on frame, none in net, 87% on passing.
Nope. Not from 35 yards with <30 seconds left, when it results in a GK and SKC possession in the Rapids defensive half. He should have dribbled to the corner and killed the clock. That could have cost the Rapids 2 points.
What a strange day. Our plan was to bunker up, when we get the ball, pass it to light blue, and periodically sneak down for a scoring chance. Is KC really this inept at the 'last pass'????????????? OK either Pablo is a tape/metric genius (something in that has merit) or he is a crazy lucky boy (OK, some of that rings true too). What was Vermes thinking, "work the ball down and smack it over the goal". A very tedious, not very entertaining game. But 1-0 in the W means a lot now. A message that no one scores on us at home. Gashi is great. He gives us a batch of scoring chances to score every game. R
Kortne Ford Man of the Match. He almost scored a beautiful header as well as that shot that went in. I really like that kid, he works hard. I still cant believe we won, keep waiting to wake up and find I was just dreaming!! Ditto on marking Zuzi, he had the run of the field most of the game. Someone tell our guys it is OK to be closer than 30 feet from an opposing player while the game is in progress!! Get in front of the opponent player receiving the ball and intercept rather than standing behind and then trying to get it away from him. Am I wrong in thinking the coaches are supposed to stand within that marked box with the dotted lines? Pablo spends a lot of time toeing the side line. He was even talking to Hairston while he was taking a throw-in. Looked like Hairston was getting frustrated with him.
Could also have been the completely absent defense on the left side. Zusi was in 10-20 yards of space several times. Pablo was giving Miller an earful.
Boy, KC must be mad about that. They looked consistently good in the build up, set up lots of one-two's just outside the area, but only got what, a couple good shots in the area?
So, I am out of state and not really paying attention. But did Los Rapidos just pick up six points in two weekends? Wow. Nice work. I think they are still dead last, but hey...
Visiting family in NYC and wasn't able to see the game. Can't wait to watch off the DVR. Three points will do.
Few observations: Ford had 2/3 of our SOG. Miller was subbed out at half to reduce our back line yellow count. Both he and Burling were sitting on yellows. The Rapids weren't going to take the tall guy out. Badji was useless. Doyle worked his butt off and was the best D-mid on the field. Pablo plays a really narrow formation. I think he's doing it to compensate for lack of speed, especially in the middle, particularly our CB's, but none of those guys are particularly fast. Howard played hurt. We were on the sidelines for warm-ups. He pulled up lame and early in the drills and was in obvious pain through the match. Glad for his saves, but he cost us position with his terrible kicks. Could have cost us a sub too. Hope he's ok. .
Random thoughts: Really one of the worst games I have seen us play and still win. Welcome back 2016, we missed your ugly winning ways! (because a win is all that really matters). I was commenting to my wife how often Doyle was hustling (and quite often on D. Makes me feel really bad that he is measured as a forward, I seriously don't think we win yesterday without his defense. I was wondering about Howard, he did not look good at all. Numerous goal kicks went out of bounds or directly to SKC. I didn't see any stops Macmath wouldn't have stopped, plus the possession from goal kicks would have been better. That save from Burling made up for some of the other errors he was making. I was saying he was not looking good, then he saved our bacon. So, I can't complain. Very surprised at how little Gashi did. I actually forgot he was in the game for long stretches. Had some great set piece play, but really little beyond that. Powers was not great. Unless he was supposed to be Cronin JR, in which case he was OK. That foul kick he made which went straight to SKC was horrible. I expect PM to put that film up and just say "WTF". Ford really impressed. And not just because he scored, he looked good on D as well. da Fonte looked good as well. Let's see if the Rapids go back to 2016 and salvage some wins or move forward with our awesome, attacking soccer and 2018 pre-season. Maybe they grit out some D wins while waiting for the supposed mid-season savior signing.
More (always more to post after a WIN)..... We tailgated and brought the new sun screen (the last one was a wind gust victim...) and although ready for a cold time, had a very pleasant time instead. Well, well....watch Pablo's news conference. He really spoke to the issues why I have liked his approach using the Italian plan, which is to not let the other team break you down and to nick them with a goal or more. As posted before, it's a World Cup style and isn't as entertaining as League style, but it does win a lot of games. He speaks of how metrics lose to heart. I agree with that a lot. Metrics have a place, don't overdo it. The recent Avalanche "Metric Team" forgets Hockey, like soccer, is a game of heart and who stands up at key moments. From #1 Western Seed with Roy (all heart) to last place with kinda' the same guys. Now on to the next victim, Columbus. A few more results and no one is running away in the West. R
To your point. SKC's own recap bragged about an MLS record 20 shots from outside the box. But what the stats really tell is the Rapids' defense didn't let them have many inside chances despite the unbalanced possession and constant pressure.
Interesting on Howard being gimpy. That may explain why (an unmarked) Zusi's shot in the 28' got by him so easily. Burling's play on that shot was tremendous, and may be the defensive play of the year.
5 of the next 6 are at home, so they better climb out of the cellar. Then they'll have all those road games to make up. (The one road game in the next 6 is at Atlanta, whose LigaMX-style quick strike speed should cause some problems.)
Despite the low goal production I've never been as down on Doyle as I have on other acquisitions from outside the league. It could have been different if the Rapids weren't so crappy and crappily coached. Doyle always works his butt off and about the only time he ever sees the ball in the box is when he's defending a corner. On the attack, there's the occasional cross or set piece where he's fighting a taller centerback for it. So he finds other ways to contribute. He's a pretty good passer (esp by Rapids standards) even though he's also not the #10 we're looking for. I think early in the 1st he sent a nice through ball for Badji. Unfortunately the defender beat Badji to the ball. (Badji does not seem as fast as say, Deshorn Brown, but I digress.) OTOH, that's a lot to spend on another d-mid who occasionally chips in with a great header.
Took one of my sons to the game and was happy weather cooperated, though parking situation was pretty rough due to the youth tournament going on. Was very happy the Rapids held on for that win, but boy did they look ugly in the process. I can't remember them stringing together more than 5 passes in a row. We made Sporting KC look like FC Barcelona in the build up and possession anywat. Good thing they didn't have Suarez, Messi, or Neymar. If KC had a tall central striker, they would have been even more dangerous. They and their fans must be extremely frustrated by that result, I was just waiting for them to score, but fortunately for us that never happened. Very happy for Ford to get that goal, plus he had a few nice tackles and another decent shot on goal, well deserved MOTM. I wish that we had a team that could play more attractive soccer, but with who we have, I think the bunker defense and occasional counter attack goal is the only chance we have to win games.
Well, I can't speak to it being an Argentine league style since I don't know that league. However, if they don't like the comparison, they should stop signing up for LigaMX contracts in such numbers. Plus two of Atlanta's three leading scorers are non-Argentine South Americans, with the 3rd being Argentine. That seems very LigaMX to me.