You want to know why we're struggiling? Steffen - 3420 of 3420 competitive minutes this season Maxso - 3420 minutes Bassett - 3185 Navarro - 3123 Rosenberry - 3066 Mihailovic - 2751 (plus 252 minutes at the Olympics) Vines - 2642 Half our starting lineup has already played over 2600 minutes this season, most of that compressed in the last 3.5 months. 24 of our 38 matches have come since Memorial Day weekend, 26 by the end of the week. That's an average of a game a little over every 5 days. The lack of depth is what's killing us, and why it was such a big mistake to not get anyone in the summer window.
No Bassett and Bombito means we are a sub .500 team. Although Bassett will be back, I can’t really see a playoff run without Bombito. Great season, though. I’m not complaining.
And, we’ve gone out this year and gotten some great pieces to build on. As always, I’m not holding my breath on a winter window - but if the RFO actually does something again this winter, we could continue to compete. Armas has the guys fighting like I’ve not seen in a long time for the Rapids. Add in some nice pieces such as a full Bombito replacement, a Ronan upgrade (Ronan can do great as a backup, but we need a true six next to Bassett and Djordje), and a winger upgrade, that would be a pretty solid starting XI
And with players like Bassett they have covered a huge amount of miles as well. This my take on it too (number of minutes) and I would guess the last two road matches are the result of this. It would be ironic if the fantastic run in Leagues Cup (matches every four days or so) means finishing below 4th in the West and an early exit from MLS Cup. Unfortunately, there is another midweek match tomorrow night. Fortunately, after the home finale on Saturday there is a week off till the regular season final in Austin.
Steffen named to the USMNT roster: Mauricio Pochettino names his first @USMNT roster. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/UEW1fHJy2i— Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 2, 2024 1 of only 4 MLS guys too. Congrats Zack!
"The start of something great.”#Rapids96 | @zacksteffen_ pic.twitter.com/XbyDnJUBaO— Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) October 2, 2024
And Colorado native Ethan Horvath. I'll be honest, I'm not sure Steffen has been consistent enough to be a Nats starter, but good to see him get the chance to make his case
Thought I saw a quote from new Mgr that GK must be starter for their club team, so that helps Steffen for sure.
Magic number of 1 to ensure a home playoff game Magic number of 3 to avoid play-in game Top 4 and homefield advantage in the 1st round can only happen w/ help, winning out only ensures top 5 LAFC has a magic number of 2 to eliminate us from the ability to finish in the top 2
I assume when you say magic number of x to do y that's points, correct? Two weeks ago I felt the Rapids would finish at worst fourth. Now, they looked cooked and could loose the two remaining regular season matches.
Yes correct. I think with Seattle at home and an eliminated Austin on the road after a two week break we'll find the 3 points we need to avoid the play-in game. Probably finish 6th and then get knocked out in the first round after pushing it to 3 games.
For the Rapids to NOT host a playoff game: Rapids lose to Austin Minnesota wins their final game Vancouver wins and draws (or wins both) their final games Portland wins their final 2 games Unlikely, but this is the Rapids so we can't rule it out
For the Rapids to avoid the play-in game they need to beat Austin OR draw and have Minnesota lose or Vancouver not win both games OR Portland or Minnesota drop points along with Vancouver dropping at ;east 3 of 6 points or Portland and Minnesota drop points
Rapids avoid the play-in/wild-card game with a win in Austin OR Minnesota not beating St. Louis OR Vancouver drawing both remaining matches or losing one of them OR drawing Austin and Vancouver not winning both matches
Gentlemen, it was a nice run this year. I’m going to enjoy the rest of the season with no expectations. I’m lucky, I’m a Buff fan and it’s exciting as heck. And the Broncos are not dead yet. So I have a fallback. Love to see the Rapids prove me wrong.
We have a much needed week off too. Only Steffen received a callup during this international window and the USMNT play Saturday / Tuesday and we don’t play again til the 19th. Based on the last injury reports and training scouting reports, I expect that means both Bassett and Cabral will be available. Bassett could very well be fully healthy, and Cabral (if available) probably for a 20-30min shift. If nothing else happens, that presumably means we have a full strength roster going into the playoffs with an additional week of rest to catch our breath after our leagues cup run. If there ever was a time for Armas to right this ship, now is that time. We play Austin (who are now officially eliminated) on the 19th. That is a very winnable game. If we win that we avoid the play in games on Tuesday/Wednesday and move right into the best of three starting on the 25th. That’s best case scenario, as a win gives momentum, and a full week rest.
There's a very good chance that we could move up to 5th with a win over Austin. Houston would then have to beat the Galaxy to keep 5th from us.
Locked in. 🔒The 2024 Audi #MLSCupPlayoffs are set. pic.twitter.com/wAqiTRTUR3— Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 20, 2024
All in for the summit push 🏔️ We'll face LA Galaxy in the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs!Stay tuned to our channels for dates, times and ticket info for all upcoming playoff games.#Rapids96 pic.twitter.com/D4pFU1QvQH— Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) October 20, 2024
I absolutely hate the playoff format. Hate it! It should not be a potential 3 game set. It should be a two-legged home and away with away goals as the tie-breaker. But hey…. What don’t know? Anyways…… after last night’s debacle, injuries and current form… I can’t say my confidence is very high right now. It’s a stark difference when DM and CB aren’t in the lineup. You realize they are the key clogs that allow our team to function at the highest level.
I’m actually open to this playoff format. I think it might be good. I think it provided decent incentives to earn as high a seed as possible, and it’s nice that everyone gets a home game. But I’m not completely sold on it.
About a month ago I was pretty excited to attend a Rapids playoff match. Now I'm hesitant to spend good money to watch this team play against anyone, much less LAG. I'll probably motivate to give the Rapids my money, just feel like I'm spending money to knowingly watch them sh!t the bed. I want to be excited but I'm not.