Pre/In/Post - Rapids vs. Quakes, Sat. 2PM, May 13; 2018 Pre-season

Is this the one at the Northglenn community center?

Edit: nevermind, yes...

 

My wife claims she had a premonition before the match that it was the Rapids time to win, but other than that, not many. I had this one down for an 0-1 loss.

 

Yeah, so. This game was quite unexpected.

Hard to believe San Jose was good coming in. So I'm not sure how much is transferrable to the next game. The dual forwards didn't seem that helpful; Gordon had a poor game. Saied was surprising good on the flank and it was very helpful to have a fullback (Hairston) contributing to the attack. It helped to have one of the d-mids moving forward. Will the D hold up doing this against a better team?

 

Oh yeah, we tried to hit that up last year. Way too crowded to be worth it.

 

I think having 2 in the box helped the mentality of the team be more attacking. While Gordon himself didn't do much the idea that we were willing to commit 2 to the attack (finally) really helped reinforce the idea with the rest of the team.

 

The Rapids won! I didn't even bother tuning in. Just Watched the replay. I'm happy but I don't regret hiking epic water falls instead.

 

Going with a 4-4-2: +1
Starting Gordon: -1
Power's decisions and passing: -1
Miller-left, Hairston-right: +1
Letting Gashi be Gashi: +1

Don't know this game proves any kind of turnaround, but I hope it puts some confidence back in the players and the team as a whole.

 

First time I've seen the Quakes in their NASL throw back color kit ... very cool!

 

Sorry guys, but I get a "told you so" even though I did cheat........I am out of town and sent a Colombian to the game with my season tickets. Her question to me, "Should I wear my Valderrama wig?"..........how could we possibly lose after that? Maybe I need to send her to EVERY game. Sure beats all the hot air on the RFO, Pablo, acquisitions, line-ups, MLS, Oscar, Gary, Fernando, Tim, Mooch,, and Gary..........

They looked good playing Pablo ball.

R

 

I disagree. While Gordon did miss an easy sitter, he played a part in the final two goals. He and Badji provided pressure on the defender and Gordon's last touch played the ball to Badji, who went down and scored. Gordon, who was credited for the assist, made a run alongside Badji which kept the defender from totally committing to Badji. Gordon also played the ball to Badji who set up Gashi's second goal.

So while he did miss an easy sitter, Gordon was credited for two assists. Not saying he had a great game, but it was good, not poor.

I also think having two forwards helped offensively

 

That is a good point. It could also help in the future. It seems a good hold up guy and a fast guy could work well together...hasn't happened yet but the 2017 Rapids could use even the poor man's version of the Casey-Cummings chemistry.

 

I guess it seemed he was fumbling the ball away so often in the midfield. But...all the Rapids do that a lot I suppose.

 

So does bring any optimism that a formation change will help moving forward? If Hairston is at fullback and there are two forwards, it does seem it allows for a variety of "attacking" players all to be on the field together. (Conventional striker like Gordon or Doyle, the fast guys in Hairston and Badji, Gashi, and I guess Saeid now too?)

 

Some friends and I ditched watching the Rapids game and went to see the Rockies take on the Dodgers. Unfortunately, the Rapids turned into the Rockies and the Rockies turned into the Rapids.

I guess that means I'm the jinx.

 

It's worth remembering that in the epic 9-15-10 disaster of the 2015 season, the Rapids beat FC Dallas 4-0 on the road thrashed RSL 3-1 at home. It's a long way to October.

 

String many wins together!

 

For Pablo ball, it sure looked a lot like Gary ball. 4-4-2, speed guy and bruiser up front, effectively an empty bucket midfield with two wingers, right back frequently getting in on the attack...

 

Good writeup on our tactics on Saturday in the middle of this article:

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/05/14/armchair-analyst-rbnys-short-term-pain-more-week-11

 

I like that Pablo's finally willing to experiment with a new shape and slightly new personnel. I'm glad that the formation seems to maximize the strengths of several of our players and hide their weaknesses. I'm glad that Doyle appears to be not a main feature in those new plans. And I hope Williams stays on the pine when he's back from suspension next week.

At the same time, I hope Pablo can come up with some new iterations of the "y-midfield" if he plans to use that going forward. MLS has years of game tape of watching LA's "y-midfield" under Bruce Arena, and how to break it down, so it will take some additional creativity to continue to be successful with it this year. Especially since, let's face it, our midfield is not even in the same ballpark as LA's was, talent-wise, when it was having success in the Y.

 

The 'Y' midfield to me is less of a concern than the 'why' attack. So far three baby steps forward (goals) with SJ. And obviously they do relate, having an attacking fullback may have been a bigger difference maker though.

 

They get tested again real soon since there's a game on Wednesday.

 

There was a good article in NYT about Italian coaches. The takeaway was their ability to play multiple looks and formations, changing and adapting between games and within games I think Pablo has been trying the same thing for three years.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/11/sports/soccer/italy-coaches-antonio-conte-chelsea.html