After 3 games last year: The Rapids were 0-2-1 The opposition included 2 teams that would not even make the MLS play offs The Rapids had scored 2 goals The Rapids had surrendered 4 goals The Rapids top scoring threat (Cunningham) had played only 37 minutes After 3 games this year The Rapids are 1-1-1 The opposition included the 2 teams that finished ahead of them in 2005 The Rapids have scored 7 goals The Rapids have surrendered 8 goals The Rapids replacement for their top scoring threat has played only 47 minutes Clearly, the Rapids glaring problem to date has been giving up an astonishing number of goals (8) on a limited number of shots on goal (16). Will Karanka be able to help shut down the opposition? Can FC come up with another player to make the same impact Petke did? For me, it's way to early to say if this team will perform better or worse than last years. But after 3 games, I believe the team has started better. Last years team began hitting their stride in June after Petke arrived and Cunningham began playing regularly and producing goals. Will Karanka provide the same stability and Mathias the same spark?
Wingert looked solid as a centerback. Hopefully the combination of Wingert, Karanka, Petke and Pablo can shore things up as communication becomes better.
Part of the problem is that Karanka and Pablo are not going to have much time together once Karanka gets here with Pablo being with the national team.
On the dark side, we've given up too many goals. On the bright side a modicum of marking would have prevented half of them. So that is easily fixed. On the bright side we've had some nice production out of our midfield. On the dark side we've only produced one goal from a forward. To be fair, I'm not really sure where to place Jovan's goals, but we need more from Noel, Pedro, Niko, Peterson, or any of our other forwards. On the dark side we've had injury problems along with the annoying excuse that we've had injuries. On the bright side they should be in the past now, and Dedi clearly showed that he'll help. Mathis also showed in his brief return that he'll be a threat - I'm hoping consistency won't be an issue. Another glimmer of hope... Aitor will be with the team soon. I'm hoping that he'll not only shore up the back line, but also bring a sure pair of feet with passing ability. One of Nats unsung attributes was that he was really very good at passing the ball - not for assists, but just for simple possession. I think we miss that as much as we miss his marking. I think we'll shore things up to where we're a team that's hard to beat. We're a player shy of a team that goes out and beats the other team.
Dark side: We've given up a goal early every game. Maybe FC needs to get the team focused before the game? Light side: We've come back to tie the game after the early goal in all 3 games
Bright sides: -We do have a .500 record, rather than an 0-2-1 record. -We are scoring more goals this year so far. -Those goals are coming from interesting sources (Kirovski, Beckerman) Dark sides: -Last year we started our first three games with 2 on the road and 1 at home. We lost the two on the road, and won the one at home. This year we started with 2 at home and one on the road. The one on the road, we got our clocks cleaned. One of the home games we beat up on a very hapless Columbus team. The other home game we played bad enough to lose. -Defense is, as detailed here, struggling. Most importantly: -This team starts with 4 out of its first 5 at home, and ends with 8 of 11 on the road. The Rapids are historically (since I've followed them) a poor road team that tends to put up results at home, and lose on the road. The unbalanced nature of the schedule means that if the Rapids don't do well early on (and they rarely do...it usually seems to take a month or two before this team starts to fire on all cylinders), history suggests that they will not have the chance to do their mid to late season surge, and that their end of season swan dive back towards the back of the pack will start much earlier and involve much more nail biting by Rapids fans. Its amazing that 1-1-1 is not looked at as a weak start, especially since we got crushed by 1 team, barely tied another, and beat up on a much weaker team. Our record and many of our positives are not a signal as to how good we are this year, but how bad we've been in the past.
did anyone notice that the Rapids are somehow in 3rd place and Houston is in 4th? i know its still very early in the season, but i think its funny that we are ahead of the team that spanked the crap out of us.
Strength of schedule. They didn't have to play Columbus or Dallas without Ruiz, they instead get probably the two best teams in the league.
This team starts with 4 out of its first 5 at home, and ends with 8 of 11 on the road. The Rapids are historically (since I've followed them) a poor road team that tends to put up results at home, and lose on the road. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Since I know mls and their love for the rapids, I am sure they added this little away game curse on us so that we and Salt Lake are the ones that don't make the playoffs ..They certainly want Chivas to make it with Bradley and the new "mexican team"- instead of us....
The dark clouds are surely there if you look for them Why isn't it a weak start? The team is tied for 2nd place. In first is FCD. One of FCD's wins was against winless RSL, the other was against the winless fire. I guess that's a weak start as well. Crushed by Houston, yeah, the score was 5-2. Do you think Houston, who had the best record in MLS last year, playing in front their new fans for the opening game, may have been a bit pumped up? The score was tied for a total of 35 minutes and the Rapids were only down a goal for another 29 minutes and still only down by one with 18 minutes remaining. The Rapids came from being down 1-0 to tie and from 3-1 to 3-2. Also, during that time, Noel had 2 breakaway chances. Houston pretty much buried every chance they had, the Rapids didn't. You recall the 5th goal was in stoppage time when the Rapids were down a man. Crushed? okay. Barely tied FCD, true, the FCD goals were wicked spectacular shots while the Rapids goals were gifts. Last time I checked they all count the same. The Rapids dominated possession and did generate chances against a packed in defense. Losses are devastating and wins not much better and ties, yeah, they're as good as losses. Excuse, me I'm going to eat worms . Am I just being unrealistically optimistic? I admit to being cautiously optimistic. The season is three games old and the team is tied for 2nd place in west and with the same record would be tied for 3rd in the east. I think both FCD and Houston will be formidably teams come year end. I think considering Clint and Dedi have hardly played along with the potential that Karanka brings supports cautious optimism.
Three games in and we already see doom and gloom around here. I don't think we have played spectacular soccer but we are MUCH better offensively this year then we have been in some time. I am excited about this because it ususally takes awhile for the offense to get going. We are averaging more than 2 goals a game. Sure we are giving up more than 2 goals a game as well but the Houston game really messes up the average in the short run. Still there is more reason to be opptomistic than pessimistic I feel. I do think that Karanka could be important but more important will be the defense communicating better and gelling as a unit.
I'm not talking about Dallas. I don't generally follow Dallas, so I'll leave it to Dallas fans to decide whether they are off to a good start or not. They look like they've beaten two teams at home that they probably should have beaten, and they tied on the road in a place that's usually thought of as a hostile road venue (presumably due to the altitude here, not due to the hundreds of fans in the stands and the antics of Rapidman). Looks reasonably sound to me as a start, but I have no idea how they played in the games against the Fire and FSL. And come on - how long have you been responding to my posts here? You expected me to pronounce that there was something OTHER than dark clouds this early on? Houston is a strong team, and there's no reason to think that they will not be as the season goes on. Noel having two breakaway chances, and not scoring on them, is not very encouraging to me. Yes, its nice that he had breakaways, but the Rapids have a very rich and elaborate history of players who can't finish. I want to see Noel finish (and I think he will get it eventually, although I still believe that he's not ready to be a starter). On the other hand, Houston buried every chance they had because Ching finishes chances - especially when Rapids players are standing around debating whether they should play defense. I know, I know. I can hear FC now. They need to gel. Of course gifts count. The difference is, many players who take wicked spectacular shots can, every now and again, replicate those great shots, and you can develop your game plan to get these guys into good positioning for success. The Rapids can't build a game plan on own-goals and subjective ref calls (well, the handball in the box should be automatic in every game IF the ref sees it, but you know as well as anyone here that what is a "foul in the box" that earns a PK differs from ref to ref, from game to game, and from play to play, and even apparently includes such subjective factors as "is this a good time for a make up call?"). On the flip side, Beckerman has finally discovered he has a cannon, and Kirovski has discovered that hard work can get you goals. These ARE things that the Rapids can build a game around. On the down side, Pedro was concerned that with Kirovski working much harder this year, someone has to be very lazy on the field. Pedro has decided that he is just that man. I am, all things considered, more optimistic than I've been in the past. But, I guess I think that when comparing this year to last year, you have to look at some other factors as well - and I think that how the team is winning games is important, and I think that where they are winning games (ie, home or the road) is also very important. The schedule this year mandates that we have a good first half of the season - something the Rapids seem chronically incapable of doing - and by good, I mean, not just better than the past few years, but a genuinely good start that factors in a lot of home games to start the year. The schedule this year suggests that if Chivas and/or RSL put up stronger games this year and their record improves much, and we become (A) incapable of winning on the road and (B) incapable of winning at the end of the season, we will not be in the playoffs. I am hopeful that Karanka, Dedi and Cletus will bring us a stronger team. The team has enough big names. But, we know nothing about Karanka and what we do know about Cletus makes many nervous. What we know of Denton continues to concern me because his defense isn't going to get any better, and what I'm seeing out of Niko concerns me because, well, see previous posts. I am hopeful and cynical all at the same time. Its what makes me a NY Mets fan, a NY Rangers fan, and of course, a Rapids fan.
But how can we possibly evaluate this team, if not in comparison with the opposition? That's the problem I have with a number of posters here. This harkens back to last year when the Rapids won a bunch near the end of the year. Not good enough, it was only because the opposition was RSL and Chivas. Completely ignored was the fact that all the other teams had already feasted on them and as a result held higher positions in the standings. Somehow those Rapids wins were illegitimate. Hey, it's a bye week, we need to have something to talk about Later this week I will post a positive comparison of Beckerman and Beckenbauer. Fabrice has a lot of growth opportunities, no doubt, but you can't score on breakaways if you don't put yourself in position to get them. But, unless he continues to finish (yes, I'm okay with 1 for 6 ) I will start to call him Luchi's Haitian Brother. He gets additional slack from me though because of the havoc I'm seeing him cause the opposing defense when they start to bring the ball upfield. He personally caused FCD defenders to play the ball out multiple times. I'm going to head over to Westminister and watch FC teach shooting at the defenders hands rather then the goal.
People that aren't familiar with NY can't appreciate this I don't think ... As a NYer - lemme say the Rangers BLEW IT!!! LETS GO DEVILS! heh ... But back to the Rapids - I'm having a very diffcult year this year. For the FIRST TIME EVER - I am more down about this team than I ever have been. EVER! I try to objectively look at this team and say - hey - maybe this could be the year right? Our inept team last year was a game away from the Cup! But then I come back to "Yeah Right!". Why? This is the question I've been really mulling over. And I've got it narrowed down to two things. 1. I've been a die hard fan of the Rapids since the first kick off in Old Mile High in 1996 - and it's been a VERY BRUTAL ride. I'd go so far to say that the Rapids (and perhaps the Metros) are the historically worst franchises in MLS History (not counting teams that folded). It's getting pretty tiring to see things suck year after year after year. 10 years is suppose to give you ups and downs ... the Rapids really haven't too much of an "UP". The 97 miracle was simply that - a strong run of 4(?) games. We've never been considereed a contender. The only hope is the stadium and the hope that KSE kicks it up after the doors open. and B. You watch just about every other team in MLS - and they are SO much more exciting and entertaining. Last year - my wife was getting a bit bored watching the Rapids after 9 years - and proclaimed MLS crap! So I made her watch a few SJ, NE, and DC games. At the home games - you know - you get focused on your own team. Her question? Why are the Rapids always so boring? VERY GOOD QUESTION! This is VERY honest - if lived in St. Louis (say) and had no allegence to any MLS team - the very LAST teams I'd watch historically speaking would be KC and Colorado. (I'd watch EJ now though! And I'd put RSL on the list) oh - and let me also add - this team has never had a coach I've believed in. Amazingly Hankinson held my confidence the most simply because he casted off Mooch ball - but that quickly died! Good god - what is the point of this post? Is this group therapy for Mark?
Here's a confession. I cheat.... It's not that I want to, but it's the only way I can maintain this relationship. I haven't fallen in love with any of the others, but I need them to fulfill what I'm not getting out of the relationship I have. They're nameless and faceless. They're an occasional scratch to satisfy an itch. I've thought about throwing it all away, and moving on, but I've learned that each new relationship is about as reliable as the last. Constantly moving on leads to shallow serial monogamy that is just as unsatisfying. That's why I cheat, and hope for the day that I can get all I need out of this relationship. The only thing that worries me is that I used to fly off to London or Amsterdam to get my fix, and now I'm finding that temptation lies closer to home.
I know the die hard fans won't agree, but I'm very pessimistic about the season. More than maybe ever before. I truly believe that Columbus and Colorado will wind up being the two worst teams in all of MLS. Before you jump down my throat, let me explain my reasoning. 1. Goalkeeping. Here I'm not worried, as I doubt I'd trade Cannon for any other in the league, regardless of what Arena may think. 2. Defense. Big question mark. Our new aquisition will have to be great for us to improve our back line. If we see that happen, then MAYBE our defense won't be a liability. Until then, we're in trouble. None of the guys back there, with the exception of Mastroeni, seem to know how to keep the ball. As an earlier poster mentioned, Borchers never made that really special pass that broke down the other team's defense, but he rarely turned the ball over either. Turnovers, poor marking, and the constant fouls both Mastroeni and Denton seem to give up scare me. Also, the midfield we have in place hurts us defensively (see below). 3. Midfield. As long as Mathis is one of our 4 mids, we are in trouble. His work rate stinks. The league is just too good now to have a guy like him being lazy. So far, teams have waltzed through the midfield without much opposition. The other three are fairly honest players, but I really don't see too much that is special about them. We got away with Valderamma not working years ago, and I hated that too, but at least Carlos led the league in assists year in and year out. Any reason to think Mathis will be capable of doing that? 4. Forwards. In my thinking, there are two reasons why I don't expect the Rapids to keep scoring at their current pace. First, Clavijo hasn't figured out yet that he doesn't have the talent to play wide open attacking soccer. After another month or so, when he might feel a little pressure on his job because we aren't winning, he'll probably go to a much more defensive lineup (see Hankinson) to save his job. Without the support of the midfield, our attack will be nonexistent. At least we knew that at any time last year Cunningham could explode for a goal all by himself. Also, just personell wise I don't like what we have in the attack. I would take every forward pair in the league, except for Columbus (and maybe Chicago, although Rolfe is pretty damned good) over ours: Ching/Moreno Donovan/Gomez Cunningham/Kreis Razov/Palencia Ruiz/Mina Moreno/Esky(or Filomino) Johnson/Wolff Youri/Buddle Twellman/Noonan(or Dempsey) Our forwards just aren't that good. I hardly think our recent goal scoring ways have defenses around the league shaking in their boots. Only time will tell, and hopefully over time, I'm proved wrong. Maybe the old center back will still have some game, Mathis will wake up and decide to work hard, Beckerman will keep hitting bombs, and other teams will feel sorry for us and put the ball in their own net. It could happen.
I thought of a couple of ways to respond, but why bother. Ultimately it doesn't matter how any of us feel the team will perform. As I said, I'm cautiously optimistic. As for Mathis, I'll wait till he actually plays a couple of games until I pronounce judgment.
Wait - are you saying that...big...soccer...doesn't...matter? That FC isn't reading MY posts to figure out what to do next week? That MLS isn't hearing my gripes about team/market favoritism? That KSE isn't feeling our pain about television coverage??? It can't be true. By the way, while I did think Mathis looked way out of place last game, he obviously does need to play a few full games before we can pass judgment on how good or bad this move was.
I remember watching him his first few years in the league and being amazed at his work rate compared to the other players on the field. If any coach could somehow get that out of him again, it would be great! I just don't see FC doing it. In addition to attending a couple of Rapids training sessions this spring, I also was lucky enough to see three other teams train in person. While I understand that it can vary from day to day, the Rapids intensity level is much lower than the others, from what I got to see. And FC seemed fine with it.
Sometimes I wonder if anyone in the Rapids org (other then maybe Marcus) actually reads our crap (and by crap, I mean intelligent, insightful and thoughtful pearls of wisdom).