When they showed the 5 Rapids fans in the stands, everyone at Frolic gave a big cheer. BTW, for anyone up north, the group at Frolic was solid. Had a nice room to ourselves with TONS of TV's and sound. Props for finding a nice venue. Hoping we can keep this one going and maybe even take over the rest of the place. rod.
My after-sleeping thoughts: - Although the score was quickly horrible, it seemed like we were at least on the field for the rest of the game. Not saying we were even close to the better team, just that last season we absolutely would have lost by 5 and likely had several red cards. - CB is a real problem. If Ford/Smith are out for an extended period of time, we need to trade. Sjoburg may be OK, but crikey that was horrible. - Toledo is a tool. Words can't express the ineptitude I saw. Kick in the face and no foul. Maybe offside on the first goal. Numerous Seattle dives. We didn't lose because of him, but you could see the players losing focus and just getting pissed off. - Seattle just pisses me off. SOOO much diving and whining. The fans were the same way. I didn't have a lot to like about Seattle anyway, but for whatever reason this one really got me going. - Kai is solid. Really enjoy watching him and can only imagine how other teams feel when they have someone that good. We just aren't used to it. - I thought Serna did a decent job. It seemed the issues with the Defense were coming right down the middle. I say this because our coaches never seem to figure out how to use him. Hopefully this is the spot. - Hate when we mess around with the formation. Price should be right above the CB's. He is that "pablo-type" destroyer that we need. You are not smarter than the game. Let your players fit into their best spots. - Said this before, but worth repeating. This team looks better than the last few years. I didn't expect a win last night. Heck, I expected to lose by 2. I didn't expect those 2 to be in the first 10 minutes, but the end result is the same. Just wish we weren't trotting out our 4th and 6th string CB. Other than that, I still have hope (2 games in and still hopefull!) Rod.
Are you talking about the one on Feilhaber in the box? That was a foul and a (off-screen) yellow card. VAR reviewed it so I have to assume it was clean. Will look closer on replay though. The players need to learn to move past this, especially in this league. I saw it too but that happens. You have to be able to play through it.
The team did look better and the additions are better but It’s hard to be definitive about what we saw because the Sounders could’ve easily have been a much better team and just spent the rest of the game taking the air out of the ball. Pretty cynical, but the lesson is that you need to come out from the starting whistle with intensity to match.
Thoughts on Match #2: The Bodmer Line is now 1.313. The Kroenke Line remains 0.000. Soccer should be played on something cows graze on, not on plastic-coated concrete. Ugly start. The Wynne-Wilson tandem left a hole wider than the Panama Canal. Unlike fine wine, Toledo hasn’t improved with age. Neither has VAR. Morris was not only offside, but his speed bump imitation clearly impeded Howard. That was a no-brainer, but Toledo and VAR were up to the challenge. F for defense on the second goal. A+ for ball-watching. That was pathetic. Cobbled together or not, the back line is the Rapids’ Achilles heel. Failure to clear the ball is deadly. Zero ability to hold possession in the midfield. Ditto for ability to change field crisply. Chad Marshall is the ageless wonder. Rodriguez deserved both an Oscar and an Olympic gold for diving. Overlapping runs seem to confuse the back line. Really??? Kamara’s still got a motor. He was all over the pitch, attacking, defending, challenging, creating space, creating outlets. It’s a shame cloning people is illegal. Yellow cards are starting to accumulate. At least most are from the run of play, and not stupid ones for dissent. Rosenberry was playing too wide on some of the early attacks. He must still be thinking that he is part of a back line, rather than being the back line. Welcome to the Rapids. If Seattle had continued pressing the attack, this could have been USOC-loss-ugly for Colorado. Howard didn't look almost-40. Imagine what he would have looked like with a 4-4-2 in front of him, rather than a 1-4-2. Kamara is a beast. He looked dangerous all night. Shinyashiki is fun to watch. Please tell me again why Toledo isn't reffing rec league soccer? Seattle looked like they had a cohesive game plan and actually were capable of executing it. The Rapids aren't 2017 or 2018 bad. They also aren't 2019 ready yet. Cobbled together lineup or not, this team isn't a playoff side without major upgrades on the back line. At least I didn't have to Google "How to unwatch a match" this year - so far.
Check out Wilson(?) out on the left side, I think he keeps Morris on. And he was certainly on from the cross and I'm not sure a Sounder touches it until the final shot at that point.
My 2-0 loss prediction based on the questionable CB play was correct. I only point this out because I did not have one correct prediction last year. After an inept beginning—ghosts of season past—they actually had the better of the play much of the second half. Couldn’t make that final pass, but it is pretty early for a new group of players. So that should get better. Would have liked to see them send in another offensive player at the end, but I get being a little conservative after last season. As others pointed out, they are much improved. It would be nice to get a win soon just to turn the page from last season.
Yeah, F this guy For what it's worth, I meant no disrespect to you and those other hearty souls who did travel. I respect the loyalty, and the cost. Had meant it as a critique of a Rapids org that couldn't inspire more to make the trip (though I realize that got lost in translation)— Matt Pentz (@mattpentz) March 11, 2019
I rewatched the play several times. Ugh! Jason, you are right. It was Wilson. That makes me feel even worse about the play. The far side AR was Felisha Mariscal, and she had a good line on the play.
Schrodinger's douchebag: Someone who says offensive or stupid things and decides whether he's kidding or not based on people's reactions
I want the Rapids to play exciting soccer, I really do. Kai looked really good. I had high expectations for Serna, I don't think he's improved since his early years (same as Axel). I lost count of his aimless crosses. Playing better than last year? I'd prefer an above ground bar. It's still way to early to judge the team. Still hoping. Watched LAFC vs Portland. Scoring 3 on Portland, even 2 with 10 men) doesn't seem quite as amazing now.
This. And I believe others may have commented on this shift as well. Via 2015-2017 NZ and 2018 Rapids, we've painfully learned that Hudson does not hesitate playing players outside of their natural position or comfort zones (the stubborn "square peg in a round hole" approach). Several examples last year. Likewise, last year, he and Padraig talked up Jack as the new field general that would lock down that central spot in the tail of the diamond (or previous 3-5-2). However, now Benny was slotted there and Jack has been shifted up and to the side. It makes me wonder how comfortable Jack is up there and/or if that's the spot best suited for his skills/style. Not sure how his past Wolves roles included this spot. Along the same lines, I don't know if anyone also noticed or commented, but every time I focused in to watch Benny, it seemed he was involved in turning it over and/or missing something (several sloppy passes and some choppy first touches). I love Benny, but he just seemed a bit off on Saturday. Not sure if that was because of sleeplessness during the week (new baby) or if something was amiss in the role or formation tinkering. I'd probably just chalk it up as an aberration rough game. But the thought came up after watching Price in a different role. And, hearing Twellman tee off on DeBoer's ineffective "square peg in a round hole" approach with a few ATL stars made me wonder if this Hudsonian tactic will raise its ugly head yet again in 2019 Rapidsland.
Also still hoping, but empirically: .5 ppg. Schedule is back loaded with 'harder' matches later. Toledo is a complete and well rounded tool, well except tools are useful, but good teams win or draw (get a result) despite the officiating, poor teams lose and blame the officiating (not that anyone was in this thread but just saying).
Much of the time the Rapids seemed to be in a 4-2-2-2 Saturday, with Benny & Price in front of 4 backs and then stepping forward occasionally. For me, except when he was picking up stupid cards last season, I thought Saturday was Price's poorest performance as a Rapid. Don't know what the stats show but he seemed to give the ball away much more often than he usually does.
Though these first 3 games are tough. After that games 4-20 are where we need to make hay this season, with the only really out of reach game being game 10 in ATL (and even that's not looking as bad as it first did when the schedule came out). I had the team at 2 points through next week's game but 30 points after Game 20.
Morris with KO. #SEAvCOL pic.twitter.com/l8B0dUgDGx— Noah Riffe (@NoahRiffe) March 10, 2019 There's the gif of it. Not quite sure how that isn't more than a yellow...High boot, reckless endangerment, intentional contact to the head....take your pick on reds. Especially with Toledo's history of Red Cards. Color me confused
Any team other than Seattle/gals/ny and it would have been a red. If missed on the field, something after for sure.
If you ever want to figure out where on the field Wilson is, first find Howard and look Left or Right of him. Man, If that is his positioning given his lack of mobility, no one will ever be offsides. Maybe we saved our midseason buy-out for him waiting for other CBs to get healthy enough.
Glass half-full take (as I say this through clinched teeth), but there is a real chance that Seattle is very good this year, particularly on the attack, particularly at home.... Seattle pounded Cincy last week, to which everyone said “Of course. They’re an expansion team.” But Cincy drew at Atlanta yesterday....an Atlanta team that has looked out of sorts...but still. A result, on the road, against the defending MLS Cup champs is a solid result for an expansion team and lends even more weight to Seattle’s pasting of them the previous week. So a 2-0 result, on the road, starting our (admittedly woeful) 5th & 6th string CB’s is probably the result we deserved and isn’t necessarily a statement on the status of the team as a whole.
Sadly that won't work, as in-season buyouts still hit the cap (see Aigner last year). My investigation so far as led me to believe that there are unwritten (or maybe more accurately "not public") rules about how that "free" buyout each offseason affects TAM spending for teams that use it. So it appears to be a choice of "buyout, no cap hit, spend TAM" or "waive, cap hit, don't spend TAM". Without more details about the exact nature of the rules I'm going to assume that waiving Gashi was better for our plans than buying him out.
My opinion is not too far off. He has good games, bad games, good moments, bad moments. I just can't figure out his complete value. So... why did the C38 section present him with MOTM at the opener? He did start the momentum for the first goal and his blocked shot on the last goal was... well... a blocked shot.