Rapids host Houston Dynamo's at the Dick at 7PM on Saturday. I'm in the mountains but it should be a beautiful evening, and I like Houston's orange color scheme. Maybe the Rapids can continue on another epic loosing streak. Anyone have anything else to add?
In the spirit of most of the Croatian team's origins, shouldn't we be playing Dynamo Houston this weekend?
Ah, what the heck. Rapids 2-0 with Nicholson and Smith scoring. I have not attended a game all year. To be honest, it hurts. I love going to Dicks on a summer evening. One of my favorite things to do. And they’ll give you a beer and a ticket for $29 tomorrow. But if I don’t protest this soccer abomination, when would I? But we’ll watch on TV. It’s what we do.
After all the soccer on TV (World Cup), I'm jonesing for a live game. $29 including a beer on beautiful summer evening is a cheap evening, and while the Rapids are poor the other team might be good.
Houston is pretty good, 1.47 pts/game, 4th in the league in goals. But only 1-4-3 on the road. Then again, the Sounders were 1-4-2 on the road the morning of their game here.
Not sure what to make of this lineup.... PRO: - No Wynne - No McBean - Axel gets the start - Boateng no longer in the 18 CON: - 4 CB’s / 5 Defenders including Castillo in starting 11...so if you include the GK, 6 of 11 are defenseman. Ahhhh the new attacking style we’ve all been promised.... - Barnes getting the start over Gashi... - No Gashi - No Gashi - No Gashi
Well... Too bad Barnes got hurt. He runs into space. He doesn’t stand there waiting for the ball; he moves into space. What a concept. Tim obviously the MOM. No one else was good. Sjoberg and Ford were decent. Off games for Price Castillo and Blomberg—which pretty much neutralizes the midfield.
I thought Ford and Sjoberg were more than just good. Those two and Smith should be the back three the rest of the season.
Me too, he brought some energy and ball movement. But after he came out he was sitting on the bench with ice on his ankle and was limping.
Seriously. They seem to play for the draw at home! BTW, another rare game where the Rapids were over 50% in possession and had more shots. Houston had the better chances, it seemed. At very least on the play when Howard saved the shot from right and then had a defender clear the shot off the rebound. Edit: Oh, and Attendance: 14,327. Yikes!
The stadium announcer must not have had a card that said "Giles Barnes" as he kept saying "Barnes" even when mentioning other players' first names. Such as on the sub, "Leaving the game, Barnes; coming in, Jack McBean."
I also wonder why Houston's two leading scores (Elis and Manotas, 9 goals apiece) started the game on the bench.
Sorry, random thoughts slowly emerging...this deserves credit: On a second play when Tomas Martinez was laying on the ground, apparently dead from some grievous injury, C38 started chanting, "Neymar, Neymar...."
Barnes is a player. After he left McBean fell down on every break/counter the Rapids started. Smh. The subs are a joke as Hudson doesn't change anything up to at least try to score a goal. The season is over-go for it every game.
I had better things to do during the game, so I watched the replay this afternoon. Some thoughts: Barnes looked better than the rest of the team. Was his play good, or was it just better than the comparisons? Houston was tired and vulnerable. Colorado was lethargic and indifferent. There were two points just sitting there for the taking. The *slightly* errant shot by Badji reminded me of a decade old Facundo Erpen highlight. I'm getting tired of the perpetually mortally wounded players (from both teams) flopping around after every gentle nudge. It seems like late season rec league antics. Regardless of season, coach, players, formation, or tactics, the default attacking option seems to be pass back and lob the ball over the top to nobody in particular, hope somebody gets on the ball and one-times a good shot. I do enjoy watching the 16 or 17 MLS teams that don't play MLS 1.0 soccer.
Houston had Watts starting at centerback. The Rapids never put him under enough pressure so he'd pull a Watts.
Watching in person, I felt the match was fairly compelling in that after the first 15 minutes or so the Rapids were on the front foot for most of the match. The one glaring problem with the Rapids attack is numbers in the box. With the exception of a few counter attacks every tome the ball was in the Rapids' attacking third they were outnumbered. It was painful to watch and this is why the ball sometimes goes backward. There are no options in the box. There will be three Rapids in the box, five defenders and no movement. I certainly don't think the Rapids were disinterested. Yea, Houston had some quality chances. And the Rapids had more possession. They need to get some creativity and numbers in the box. If Hudson is going to go back to two forwards I wold suggest he put Gashi just withdrawn a bit from Badji. This would allow him to be in proximity to Badji and the goal with fewer defensive responsibilities.
Was it just me, but from 108 Gashi was open at about 30-35 yards out without anyone within 10 yards and he never did seem to get a ball on his foot unless he was facing backwards. I thought Axel/Ford were better than the other starting centerback line, as others had posted. If we continue to play them and Gashi, it'll be more like Pablo ball (if they cannot score, you always get a result). Better than the Rapids Way, which apparently is to rebuild the roster thru July and then see how far off the playoff spots are....Oh wait, the RFO has excelled at that for years. Lovely weather. R