The Rapids play the DC United's at their new stadium, The Audi, on 6pm on Saturday. And Wayne Rooney will be playing! He's like old and fat, but he used to be good! Put your thoughts, predictions, etc... here.
So they meet again...🎧 Tim Howard on facing Wayne Rooney: https://t.co/vWJhWEC2ej pic.twitter.com/RMSLSZeSlg— Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) July 27, 2018 Man U v Man U Everton v Everton
Desiring a victory, I hope that Acosta and Barnes start this match. Don't know much about DC United this season other than on paper they aren't any better than the Rapids.
Reposting from Season Catch-All a few moments ago... Looks like Gashi isn’t in the 18 for DCU match. Rapids Youth Soccer just posted a pic of him talking to soccer camp kids today (Fri). Not in DC like the others. The usefulness of the RFO unofficial injury update is already off the charts in its first week. Listed as “Probable”... “Not necessarily an injury that could keep them out of a game, just something that the player is dealing with.” Then again, Hudson probably benched him simply because he “liked” Instagram pics of Aigner in Germany. Surely McBean is in the 18...(cough... blasphemy!)... I mean, XI.
I put some thoughts regarding Rooney and this match in the season thread a couple days ago. If the Rapids back line includes Wynne and Smith, if Hudson sticks to his unsuccessful 3-5-2, and if nobody can get the ball to Acosta or Boli, it's going to be Katie-bar-the-door. Also, Blomberg is a card away from being penned. This will only be DC United's fifth "home" match of the season. They have played "home" matches at the Maryland Soccerplex (draw), the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (win), and two at Interlocking-Handcuff-Logo-Automobile Field at Buzzard Point (win, loss). The Rapids are a spectacular 1-6-2 on the road. I'm not exactly wild with anticipation of this match.
Rooney verse Howard could be fun though. It's not hipster, but my favorite thing about MLS is watching stars live. Zlatan tickets were high priority, so was Beckham, etc... So I rip Rooney with love, I'm looking forward to watching him.
I'm curious to see how well Rooney does as well. People in the N&A thread last week were saying he was done and this is a Steven Gerrard situation. That seems harsh to me. Rooney's definitely on the downside of his career but he's a bit younger and his versatility should help him find a role. It did seem a pretty good motor was a big part of his success so I guess if he's losing his legs that could take a lot out of him. I didn't think he was that bad for Everton last season. They had all sorts of problems fitting their pieces together.
With this game, I find myself in a strange position....A Rapids game I’m actually looking forward to watching. An away game no less. It’s a weird, uncomfortable feeling. The Acosta trade, the (seemingly) positive tactical changes that have been made recently with the 4-4-2, the thrilling 2-2 result at Rio Tinto....It feels like we are building something that could be easily mistaken with positive momentum, although it’s been so long I’ll admit that I’ve completely forgotten what that looks or feels like. Despite the recent hint of positive momentum, I can’t quite get all the way to “optimism” just yet....but I am looking forward to the game for the first time in forever...so that’s something. Looking forward to the lineup selection and formation. Looking forward to seeing Acosta and Rooney in action. 2-1 loss. Goal by Boli.
👇 Tonight's injury report 👇📝 https://t.co/8JCIciPCkG pic.twitter.com/EV0saQwi49— Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) July 28, 2018
I often read what our opponents say about us. This is form a Dcu blog, decent summary of our situation. Not perfect, but they call out many of the WTF choices we all see. Not sure why coaches think differently, perhaps they are just smarter and those things we thought were losses are actually actually wins.... https://www.blackandredunited.com/d...pids-tim-howard-edgar-castillo-anthony-hudson
Will be there in person to watch this one. Sitting with a bunch of DCU people, so can't get too crazy. Will have my Rapids hat on. Thinking we will lose, 3-0. DCU is motivated for a good showing after the last 2 games, we have not shown any ability to get out of the defensive half of the field (unless we are lucky to have a rain delay). DCU can score, 10 in a box won't keep them from hitting a few in.
The line up review was really good for someone who probably has no reason to pay any attention to the Rapids, especially as boring as the Rapids have been to watch. He makes a good point--if Acosta starts alongside Price, does Wilson move back into the backfield, forcing Sjoberg to the bench? OTOH, I have been hard on Howard, but that's mainly about his dropoff. I don't think he's anywhere near this poor: Relative to other league keepers, Howard still has good reflexes, good positioning, good judgment when to leave his line. He's probably also still above average in his handling of the ball despite his bad pass to Gashi recently. I also disagree with this: There are a lot of bad players starting for MLS teams. Lots of meh players, too. It's very difficult to separate the talent of players from the coach's ability to put them together as a unit. We thought Pablo was a bad coach, but his teams weren't as bad as Hudson's, and the team also completely fell apart after he was fired. It went from being boring and lousy to team that had a good game when it only lost by a goal.
That last part I also disagreed with. Talent wise, the rapids aren't the worst. We just dont seem to use our talent properly.
Not going too far out a limb, looks like we won't see Barnes tonight. I'll be curious to see how Hudson has the side lined up. Will he go with the defensive 3-6-1 which becomes a 5-4-1 when defending? Or will he go with attacking 4-4-2 that we saw fallowing the weather delay last weekend?
The XI against @dcunited.📝 Roster notes: https://t.co/Gb8N1qX3yJ pic.twitter.com/50S5gujt6q— Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) July 28, 2018
Wednesday injury report to BW - Gashi probable, Barnes questionable Saturday official pre-game injury report - Gashi and Barnes both questionable, but Barnes starts and Gashi doesn't make the trip to DC ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Coming out in a 4-4-2 tonight.#Rapids96 | #DCvCOL pic.twitter.com/PRO6IGK3v2— Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) July 28, 2018
Hairston not in the 18 either. Wonder if he is the latest player to find his way to the dog house? Not sure I’m a big fan of Danny Wilson at 6. Glad we’re back in the Diamond 4-4-2 at least. Would like to see Acosta and Castillo played on the same side of the field. Could lead to some pretty solid build up play.