I think this is the lineup: irwin rosenberry-abubakar-moor-wynne price-acosta nicholson-mezquida-shinyahiski kamara Edit: Looks like defensively they are 4-2-3-1 ish to start. Vs the Fire defensively they seemed to drop in to a 4-4-2 with Naimli up with Kamara.
14' Delay of game as it's hailing. In LA? Rapids had not been as fluid in this game as the one vs the Fire.
Maybe the broken nose injury to Benezet is keeping him out for a while. Are 18 players allowed to dress for away games? If so, there are some decent players who might not even make the Rapids bench on occasion. I like how there is good competition for almost every position, especially the wingers. I hope that younger players such as Lewis, Bassett, Trusty, Shinyashiki and others still get valuable playing time over the course of the season. I would assume Vines will start over Wynne normally and Namli over Mezquida, otherwise, this does look like "starters", although eventually maybe Benezet and Trusty might become more regular starters. Also, who is better, Nicholson, Lewis or Rubio? Lots of choices. Good quality bench players this season.
I think TFC is a lot better than the Fire. They know their system under Vanney. Rubio generally plays centrally whereas Nicholson and Lewis wide. It looks like there will be a lot of competition for time on the wings with Lewis, Nicholson, Benezet and Shinyashiki all in the mix. A lot of good choices there.
Ah, did not know Benezet broke his nose. Last week Nicholson added a lot with his speed. Constant threat on long runs. Helped open the field. Did a lot of work defensively as well. I think they'll rotate all those guys but Nicholson will get a lot of work.
There's an ad at the stadium for "ActivePDF." Do I want to know what that is? Sounds like a malware-launching platform.
TFC should have scored again. Delgado made a run in behind Moor on a counter off a turnover. Is that going to be a theme of the season, runners in behind Moor for run-of-play goals, and runners in front of Trusty for set piece goals?
If Nicholson could finish he'd...probably be making a lot more money for some team in the British Isles somewhere.
Shinyashiki is doing the most damage out there. Besides the goal, sent a good cross to Nicholson at the far post, and just made a good run and was just off with a cutback to Kamara.
Nothing really new or insightful in this for most who post here, but you will learn which player is the team barber. The wait is over. Elevate season three is here!Watch the full episode ⤵️#Rapids96— Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) February 23, 2020
Well, less than a week till the Rapids face DC United at Audi Field. Time to start processing what we've seen in the preseason. At point it seems the Rapids may be similar to what they were much of last season - able to score but likely to concede. I was hopeful that they would continue on the path that Fraser began, but I am concerned now that at the beginning of the season (at least) they will give up goals at too high of a rate to get three points on a regular basis. I base this off of what I saw in the latest friendly v TFC. It was easy to break the Rapids' lines and then get players free on the far post. It was surprising that more goals weren't conceded. Yes, TFC made it to the MLS Cup final last season, so they should father along than the Rapids at this point. But it was alarming. I am not convinced that Moor is going to be able be effective physically at this point in his career. And it appears that Trusty isn't ready - at least yet - to pair with Abubakar. It seems there are no other possibilities at this point. Ford is still rehabbing and Rwatubyaye and Afamefuna appear not to be ready for MLS yet. On the other end of the pitch, it looks like the Rapids will be able to score at least as well as they did last season and perhaps more frequently from the run of play. Namli appears to have quickly adopted to the Rapids and is displaying the attributes Pádraig stated he'd bring. We haven't had much of a look at Benezet yet due to his broken nose, but I would suspect that he's going to really push Nicholson and the other wingers for playing time while bringing more more scoring ability. Additionally there are the returnees - Kamara, Rubio abnd Shinyashiki - that all were capable scorers last season. So, my prediction for the first few months are mixed results. The Rapids will often score enough to get three points, but will concede to an extent that they will end up with only one and sometimes none. Hopefully, Fraser &Co. will be able to work out a solution to the defensive issues in the not too distant future.
Logistical questions with the opener next week: --What's the deal with TV, is it definitely Altitude? --I will email my ticket guy, but did they say where the season tickets are? Is it "real" ticketmaster, that other ticketmaster system they used in the 2nd half last season, or some other thing?
Good question - I was wondering the same thing. Hopefully the directions aren't in the envelope with the season ticket holder stuff as I can't get them till I enter the first home game. (This is a whole other issue - IMHO) If Altitude can't work out a deal with the providers, wouldn't it be nice the Rapids and other MLS teams would unblock matches on espn+? At least that would give many of us a chance to see the Rapids in action at DC, etc.
Last night was Awesome guys…Thank you @torosathletics @ccaad2. #CCAAhallOfFame 😊🤘 pic.twitter.com/fFlhHNrv9u— KEI KAMARA (@keikamara) February 23, 2020
Its listed on Altitude's schedule But that works against Altitude. If there are other ways to get the games, then nobody will be pushing Comcast/DISH to make a deal. I'm sure the Rapids FO wants to lift the blackouts, but I'm also sure their masters at KSE are saying absolutely not.