Here’s a free to view table for those who don’t have a subscription to the athletic: My MLS Wages dashboard has been updated to reflect the updated data. https://t.co/38dOz59qbd https://t.co/U37QYA3Aen pic.twitter.com/YHHCzVTuJ1— Steve Fenn //\\ Mast: StatHunting@skrimmage.com (@StatHunting) October 20, 2021 If anyone other than Fraser is named coach of the year…I don’t know what to say. Sure, there’s a case for Bruce Arena on points per dollar and their run at a new MLS season points record. But we’ve essentially gone the whole year with no DPs, and our big transfer (Vines 2.1mil) sold for less than 30% of their big transfer (Buchanan 7mil). Tajon is also continuing to stay on with them for the remainder of the season - essentially giving them 4 DPs for the year: Carles Gil (3 goals, 13 assists) Gustavo Bou (14 goals, 6 assists) Adam Buksa (13 goals, 1 assist) Tajon Buchanan (7 goals, 5 assists) If New England sets the points record, I think it will be a close call for Fraser or Arena - simply because of the historic run. But if they don’t, I think Fraser should have it on lock. Even with the “blunders” during the season….What he’s done this year with the pieces we have - is frankly nothing short of impressive.
The Set Piece King keeps racking up the assists 📈Last night, @jacko_8 earned his 12th assist of the season, becoming the first #Rapids96 player to earn 12 assists in a season since 2009. pic.twitter.com/iKUKvsFFKl— Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) October 21, 2021
This roster really only has 3 true forwards on it. Diego Rubio ($585K), Andre Shinyashiki ($120K), and Dominique Badji ($300K). Going into 2022 which of those, if any, should the team keep?
Interesting question. I don't know. Thinking keep Shinyashiki and Badji and hope if they get consistent run outs they might start scoring? I created a game thread for tomorrow's game.
Honestly, I think he's worth every penny. Esteves has performed really well in my book. He's got good game sense, he's fast, he's not afraid to join the attack, and he can be strong on defense. Plus, at 5'7", he's actually got the 2nd highest "headed duel percentage" with 76.9%. Drew Moor is the only guy on the roster with a higher percentage at 80%. The next closest person winning those headed duels is tied between Jack Price and Steven Beitashour with 66.7%. Sam Vines - by comparison - finished this season with a 46.1% and last season with 52.4%. Trusty was 2020's overall leader in "headed duel percentage" with a win rate of 70.6% but is sitting this year at 63.5%. Basically this stat shows that he's really good at winning the ball in the air too
Inside Video Review starts this week with the uncalled PK in Minnesota that VAR awarded. They concluded that the PK should have been awarded (obviously) but that despite putting the ball wide Barrios still would have had a good goal scoring opportunity and a yellow should have been awarded to the Minnesota keeper. http://proreferees.com/2021/10/23/2021-inside-video-review-mls-30/
With Seattle's loss this afternoon New England wins the Supporters Shield. Hopefully when they get home from Orlando after their game tomorrow they'll all go out for a good party and then not care about our game out there on Wednesday since they have nothing left to play for.
I find it funny that at the beginning of the video you hear them clearly saying “no pk” and “I’ve got no contact.” Think this shows how much VAR can easily miss. That VAR inspection took 20 seconds before even thinking of possibly callin a PK and then the review as a whole before sending it down to the center ref took about 50 seconds. You may recall that including goal celebrations, etc, the no offsides call that got Rubio and Shinny fined took 60 seconds. I mean, they’re human. They didn’t think this was a red card either: This was a yellow card. pic.twitter.com/XzhBk2pGor— Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) October 23, 2021 So yeah. Not a great look for VAR these days lol
LOL even “the Rock” himself is tweeting about this takedown 💯 this is called delivering a devastating, “Rock Bottom” 👏🏾👏🏾+ I assume player in green got up and fought his ass off, unless he got his bell rung. + I also assume there was a card delivered in the red color palette 🤣 https://t.co/anvlN9Sx5T— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) October 23, 2021
Ok. Now we gotta win the cup just for this alone @jacko_8 in his postgame chat with @marcelobalboa17 confirms if #Rapids96 wih a championship, he will shave every hair on his body!!💪😀 You beauty Jacko...never change mate!— MLSfrom5280....yes, THAT one. (@MLSfrom5280) October 24, 2021 (jacko_8 is Jack Price’s Twitter handle fyi)
We’re goin back to the @MLS Cup Playoffs! 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/A8uUbRzsjQ— Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) October 24, 2021
Some of you might find this interesting. I went back to the MLSsoccer.com season preview for the Rapids. None of the experts picked us higher than 5th (which we clinched as our worst possible finish last night) and with 1 more point we'll clinch a top 3 finish. So I thought I'd ask them what they're thinking now. Most of them have been good sports about me calling them out (the others haven't responded yet). @MattDoyle76 @tombogert @cboehm @Andrew_Wiebe @J_SamJones @Zakuani11 @susannahcollins @MikeLahoud @JillianSakovitsRapids clinched 5 tonight, 1 point more for 3rd. Your predictions 😉😄Boehm 5Bogert 6Collins 6Doyle 5Jones 5Lahoud 12Lowery 8Sakovits 9Seltzer 7Zakuani 7— Jason Maxwell (@RapidsJason) October 24, 2021
So I'm going to assume the bottom doesn't fall out combined with the Galaxy and Timbers getting hot and that we're going to finish top 3. The question then is what are the chances of us catching KC or Seattle. So start by looking at their remaining schedules and the points they are likely to take from those games: Seattle: @LAFC - Short rest, but that should be at least a draw Galaxy - That should be a win in Seattle @Vancouver - It might depend what the Whitecaps have to play for but you would think the Sounders would get a win, especially with the West on the line. So probably 7 points for Seattle. Added to the 3 point lead they already have that gives them a 10 point lead and we only have 3 games left to play. We probably can't catch them without some surprising help. Sporting KC: Galaxy - La is an up and down team and KC is at home. Coming off a big win though so on short rest with LA playing for the playoffs I'll say a draw @minnesota - Going to predict an upset here and a Minnesota win @austin - That's 3 points for SKC FSL - With positioning on the line and FSL possibly eliminated, KC gets the win at home So that's 7 points for KC, who are currently tied with us. They have the tiebreaker, so we'd have to win all 3 remaining games, and have KC get a couple of surprising results (losing in Minnesota, a draw with the Galaxy). Its possible, but we'll know by this weekend, if not Wednesday, if we have a shot at 2nd. Realistically we're looking at 3rd though, even if we get hot and win all 3 its likely KC and Seattle won't drop enough points. If we don't win all 3 there's almost no chance of catching either one.
BTW 1 more win and a point dropped by Philly clinches a top 4 finish in the Shield race. This is notable because the division winners and the best non-division winner get CCL spots, which this year will be the top 3 in the Shield race. The last CCL spot goes to the MLS Cup winner, and if they already have a spot the extra spot goes to the top team in the Shield race that hasn't qualified. So clinching a top 4 spot means that if any of the top 4 teams win MLS Cup we get a CCL spot.
That's a good (and realistic) estimate on the final couple weeks of regular season. While it would be awesome to supplant SKC or SEA at 2nd or 1st, it's rather unlikely. But we'll soon see! Regardless, the most important part (in terms of maximizing the chances for home playoff games) is at least retaining 3rd. If we drop to 4th, the winner of the 4th/5th first round match up will play a well-rested (after first round bye) conference winner (at SEA or at SKC)... ie, not good and likely only one home game. But at 3rd, we have a semi-fair shot at 2 home games (if the 2nd place team drops one to the 7th placer). Not likely, but def. within the realm of possibility. But you all probably know this.
Frankly, while each of these three brings their personal perks and strengths, considering how horrific our final 3rd finishing has been for much of this year (despite the Badji and Rubio headers this wknd), NONE of these guys "strike" me as worthy of keeping and pushing. Of course, if Badji keeps on his pace or if someone lights a fire under Rubio, maybe there's merit in keeping one or two of them. But I've seen enough of Badji over the years, and Rubio in recent years to not have much faith/excitement in either of them being a solid, effective scorer. As for Shinyashiki... my prior comments in the SEA thread stand. "What have you done for us lately?". Bottomline, if any of these three guys rise to the level of "we need to keep him!", we wouldn't have been bitching about the glaring lack of finishing in the box over the year... or last year. It's been a problem for a long while. And these guys haven't brought a solution (again, if they go on a tear in final three games, I'll reconsider). Sidenote: Part of the above opinion was informed by watching the final 20 minutes of Orlando / NERevs this weekend. With Buksa popping in 2 late goals for NERevs (and with clear, dominating authority as a constant threat for the entirety), I was quickly reminded of what a forward threat should look like for a good MLS club. While ORL surely included "We gotta watch/mark Buksa!" as a key part of their game plan (ineffectively in the end), I highly doubt any of our three forwards are "striking" fear in any opponent game planning.
So uh, we play New England on Wednesday. If anyone was hoping the short rest after an important in-conference game would help our chances....that hope was shattered after they won the supporters shield - as in-conference games don't change their standings...at all. Plus, they kinda sorta maybe rotated their squad in Florida - saving a lot of minutes for their key players.... 𝐒𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐃 𝐃𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐇#NERevs | #ORLvNE— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) October 24, 2021 That was a heavily rotated lineup (9 players from their last starting XI were swapped out). You'll read in their lineup notes that they left a combined 48 goals and 49 assists on the bench. For comparisons sake, the Rapids have 45 goals on the entire season. Anyways. They go down 1-0 into half time. Bring on their DP Striker Buksa and DP Midfielder Gil at halftime. Find themselves down 2-0 in the 50th. Then in the 64th they bring on their third DP Bou, Tajon Buchanon, (he'd be a DP on most MLS teams, and is their recently sold homegrown star), and their main starting wingback DeJuan Jones. That's..... a lot of firepower. They then come roaring back against the Lions and tie it 2-2 with 2 goals in the final 15min of regulation + stoppage time. Now, they are sitting at 70 points. The all time single season points record is 72 set by LAFC. A win gets them the points record - and they play us on Wednesday with most of their main guys either not playing, or getting rotational minutes on Sunday. Also, just to add it to the mix, there hasn't been a lot of intra-conference play this year. East hasn't played a lot of games against the West - and as such a lot of people have questions about "strength of schedule." New England has played Cincinnati twice, Toronto, twice, Chicago three times, and are set to play Miami their 2nd time on decision day. Those four teams have a combined -86 goal differential.....and New England's lone game against the West was a 2-1 road defeat in Dallas. I'd be shocked if Bruce Arena - a long time Western Conference coach - doesn't want to take it to the West on Wednesday and make a statement win that: A) proves again New England can dominate, and can dominate more than just Eastern Conference teams and B) Gets them the all time points record simultaneously - at home. We all knew this was going to be a tough game.....and I truly believe we will put up a good fight. And by golly I would love if the Rapids play spoiler and steal a point out of this one. Heck, I'd be over the moon were we to actually win it. But if we're being realistic, based on what happened on Sunday, I imagine we will be going up against their star power for most, if not all of the game. I have no doubt in my mind that Bruce wants the record, and wants it now. I just hope that on Wednesday the Rapids aren't going into the records book as the game that took New England over the all time season points record...
Yes, but my comment to start the post addressed this. The only way we don't hang on to third is if we lose the rest of our games and either Portland or the Galaxy win all 3 remaining games. One point for us against NE, Houston, or LAFC locks up 3rd. So I'm not too concerned about dropping out of the top 3 after Saturday's results.
3rd seed gets us a visit from the 6th seed - that is most likely to happen. 2nd seed gets us a visit from the 7th - probably not, but it could still happen. 1st seed gets us a bye week. I don't see this happening. But hey, its the MLS. Stranger things have happened before.... 7+ points out of our next three games (tie NE, beat Houston, beat LAFC) and we could climb. Those results aren't necessarily a pipedream either. Again, not likely that we climb the standings as SKC has that game in hand, and SEA has a 3 point headstart. It could technically happen though. As far as predicting our first round playoff opponent? Well, as of today, there are a whopping 5 points between 9th (LAFC) and 4th (Portland). Any of these teams could move up or down into that 6th seed place. LAFC (41 pts - 9th) plays Seattle, Vancouver, and us. Not likely to slide up into 6th, but it could happen! They are on a good streak right now with 8 points in their last four games. But, they're playing the top dogs, a playoff team fighting for its life, and then comes to face us at altitude..... FSL (42 pts - 8th) has 4 games to go and plays Dallas, San Jose, Portland, and SKC. After they beat us 3-1, they went out and laid an egg losing 1-0 to Chicago. Who knows what to predict with the salty side of the Rockies...but, there's definitely a chance for a first round playoff game against them. THAT would be a fun game to watch. They've got two games against playoff teams, and two games against teams that are out of the playoffs to leapfrog some teams and get into the 6th seed. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised to see this happen. Vancouver (44 pts - 7th) plays Minnesota, LAFC, and Seattle. That's a tough schedule. But they've proven to be a tougher team as they are one of four teams in the West to not have double digit losses on the season so far*. They could easily drop out, but they could also easily stay in that 6th - 7th place. Minnesota (45pts - 6th) plays Vancouver, SKC, and LA Galaxy. With that schedule, I don't see them staying in 6th. That's three playoff teams all vying for that 4th seed. They could easily drop out of the playoffs in this stretch. They could also secure a spot too. Hard to say. LA Gals (46pts - 5th place) plays SKC, Seattle, and Minnesota.....talk about a meat grinder to run into to close out your season.....they probably won't drop out of the playoffs. And with other teams results, they could very easily fall into that 6th place position. Portland (46pts - 4th place) plays San Jose, FSL, and Austin. By far the "easiest" stretch of games to close out the season for playoff contenders. I simply don't see them getting knocked out of 4th. *For what it's worth, the Rapids actually have the fewest losses on the season in the Western Conference with 6**. Only New England and Nashville have fewer losses in the entire league with 4 losses each. **With only 6 losses on the season so far, it is impossible for the Rapids to have a double digit loss season. This will be only the 6th time that the Rapids will have stayed below double digits in the loss column: 2020 (shortened season - 18 games) 6 losses. 2016 - 6 losses 2011 - 9 losses 2010 - 8 losses 2004 - 9 losses
Somehow lost in the action this weekend was Dantouma Toure receiving a second yellow Friday night for removing his jersey after the Switchbacks equalized in stoppage time against the Monarchs. Toure wasn't responsible for the goal or assist, but even if he was it still wouldn't have been a smart move. He's now suspended for the season finale against Ford/San Antonio F.C. — a match that will decide who gets to host a first round playoff game. The highlights on the USL YouTube channel don't show the event, but it's worth looking up the on-demand feed on ESPN+ just for Crookham and Burke's reactions on the sideline as Toure departed the field.