The Rapids play Chicago and Dallas while KC plays Dallas and the United. Both should beat Dallas while we know the Fire at Soldier Field will be a very tough match to win. KC plays in DC and it's hard to say at this point if DC will need a win or not. What do you think and why? Due to their lack luster play the last month, I'm picking the Rapids to finish 3rd and I hope it ends up not making a difference. I think they can win at home and have a strong enough defense to draw in KC. This of course assumes the cumulative yellows and reds don't come into play.
I'm keeping the faith. By my count, all we have to do is win one game and KC has to lose 1 game and we have 2nd locked right? The burden is on KC and I think we'll be able to at least take Dallas and I have a feeling we might actually beat Chicago as well. Of course my feelings are almost always wrong
Pretty much. The Rapids have 40 points while KC has 38, both with two matches to go. As it's at least a relatively safe bet both teams will dispatch the Smoldering Ponies, it'll come down to road performances. Three points for the Raps in either game forces KC to win out as Colorado would have 43 points and the most the Wiz could finish with is 44.
I'm not entirely sure what the tiebreakers are if teams finish even on points, but I'd think the Rapids would have it in their favor. 7/4 COL 3-2 KC 8/22 KC 2-2 COL 9/13 COL 1-0 KC 10/4 KC 4-2 COL That's seven points for Colorado head-to-head with KC to the Wiz's four. At the moment, there are nine scenarios in which both teams would finish even on points.
Can you tell it's a slow night at the office? COL win/tie; KC win/win = 44 pts. each COL tie/tie; KC win/tie = 42 pts. each COL tie/loss; KC win/loss = 41 pts. each COL loss/loss; KC tie/tie = 40 pts. each The rest is basically redundancies. Basically, a Rapids win all but puts KC in third place.
That's exactly why I voted for a 3rd place finish. Besides KC being the luckiest of the bunch in terms of referee calls or lack thereof.
I sure hope you're right. I have little faith in this team after watching them fade so many times in the past. Spencer sure has the right attitude though. He seemed on fire against San Jose, he is a little rusty from his injury but I think he will get back to his true form soon. I was very dissapointed in Beckerman and Trembly both botched up a lot of plays due to inaccurate passing and dribbling. ZiZi has been a huge dissapointment to me since returning from injury. He can dribble the ball, his passing game is pathetic and he either can't or won't hussle. I Mr Hanki likes him for his height and shot. Other than that, I just don't see it. If we can somehow beat Chicago this weekend then were home free. If we loose, I think it may go to their heads and Dallas could easily beat us in Texas. We are not a good road team. Just look at our patetic road record 3-8-2. The only two teams we have beaten on the road are LA and San Jose. We couldn't even beat Dallas in Dallas one of the worst performers in MLS history. Mr Hanki has an opportunity to prove he deserves to be looked at as one of the best coaches in MLS and to do so he needs road wins. I hope he can do it because this Rapids team is one of the most exciting in their short history.
I am worried about Chicago back at home in Soldier Field. They will have better crowd support. Dallas can upset KC. Their new coach has won some games and has things going better. They can't make the post-season but they can mess up other Western Conference foes. I think the Rapids will draw with Chi, win against Dallas giving them 4 points. I think KC will beat DC and lose to Dallas giving them three points, not enough to move into second.
Prediction: Rapids loose to Chicago 1-2 0 pts Rapids draw with Dallas 0-0 1 pt KC beats Dallas 4-2 3 pts KC looses to DC 1-2 0 pts Standings Rapids finishes season 11-11-8 41 pts KC finishes season 11-11-8 41 pts Not sure how the tie breaks work but these are the results. Rapids would get home field if the season series counts first otherwise it is KC More goals scored than the Rapids 51 to 35 Goal differential +4 to -4 Season series KC 1 win 1 tie 2 losses Rapids 2 wins 1 tie 1 loss
The Rapids win the tiebreaker with the Wizards (as posted on MLSnet last week). If we assume that both KC and the Rapids are going to beat Dallas (An iffy assumption, but anyway) then the Rapids only need to draw Chicago OR have KC not win their last game. Essentially: Rapids lose to Chicago: Must beat Dallas and hope KC doesn't win both of it's remaining games to get home-field advantage. Rapids draw Chicago: Must beat Dallas to get home-field in the first round of the playoffs(Gee where have I heard this before? Maybe Hankinson will rest his starters in that last game in a true deja vu moment...) OR KC has to lose one game OR KC must draw both games. Rapids beat Chicago: Must draw with Dallas OR KC has to not win one of it's last two games.