Ok, I want your opinions. I live out here in Colorado and have watched the Rapids since their inception. I personally think that this team is the worst I have ever seen in MLS history. I am getting to the point that I cringe at the thought of having to watch them again. I only go to games because I want soccer to succeed here in the US but frankly, if this is all I have to look forward to then maybe it shouldn't.
Ability wise, we really shouldn't be that bad. Between Pablo, Hendo, Chung, Zizi, Spencer and Carrieri you'd think we could do better than 5 losses in 6 games and 1 point with 3 goals for. But, I don't know. The coaching could very well be the problem. I don't see it as a talent or ability problem, though.
Why did Hankison pull Beckerman and leave Borders? Beckerman is not the reason you're losing... Why not pull Hart after Beasley has abused him for 3 straight Fire goals? What's happened to Robin Fraser? You guys can't have Dave Dir, though, we might want him back in Dallas.....
Possibly. I watched last night's game, and the Rapids were a beaten team. I only wish that the Wizards next four games were against them. Whether it's a player or coaching change, something needs to give today. Given the nature of MLS with four of five teams in the West making the playoffs, it's way too early to write them off. But Dallas just seems to be in a classic slump, and LA is struggling, but still playing as a team. Colorado's efforts that I've seen this season are increasingly bad. I all ways. There's no sense that anyone is running things. I can only blame Hankinson and his decisions. Both in personnel and tactics.
how bad? imagine a team of blind guys with blisters on their feet being led by a coach who had never seen the game before and a gm who believes that it is not as important to win as to have really cool uniforms. got a mental picture? well, it's worse than that. talent is not the problem - there is at least enough skill on the team to score a goal every two games or so, and enough experience to prevent every game from being a 4-0 loss. management, specifically hankinson, has let the team spirit/drive/determination erode to the point that losing is the only possible outcome. the only question before every game seems to be which 11 players will the manager pick out of the hat this week and who will he blame (besides himself) for the loss. the team is so completely unprepared for every game that it is laughable. never have the rapids looked so overmatched as they do this year, and the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of hankinson and counce.
Re: How bad is Colorado? who is the coach?? Well... the first question that come to my mind is:WHO IS THE COACH??? WHAT IS MLS DOING ABOUT THIS SITUATION? ARE WE LOOKING AT THE EFFECTS OF A COACH CARROUSEL???
Well...when are they getting a pink slip??? Classic....The recreational mentality of people that have no experience with PROFESSIONAL SOCCER, but still the question remain: when are these people getting FIRE
Lets try something new Come on guys lets try something new...SMU coach seems to be a good candidate, lets do something but this situation can no longer continue...
I think that too many of you are overreacting. In the games that I have seen Colorado play this year (admittedly a limited number), I haven’t thought that their play was all that terrible. Yes, their record sucks. But in the game of soccer, the difference between winning and losing can be miniscule. I understand that nobody wants to lose, but unless there are endless ties, there will be teams that lose matches. To hear some of the verbiage emanating from Colorado, after less than a quarter of the season, one would think that the end of the world is near. Perhaps expectations were too high. Although I’m not sure why. They gave away the second best midfield general in the league, and then failed to replace him. The on-field consequence of that is that they appear (and apparently are) offensively disorganized. This is somehow a surprise? Based on the game against the Fire it appears that their real weakness is in defense. Robin Fraser seems to be the only one on that end of the field that knows what he is doing/does his job well. I’m not sure what happened to Ritchie Kotschau, but he was always pretty decent. The absence of Mastroeni obviously hurts. And when 6 of your players on the field have a total of 7 MLS starts amongst them, one should limit their expectations. I don’t think that the result (other than the high score) of the match with Chicago should be at all surprising. Chicago has one of the best defenses in the league. (Only one other team has as many shutouts per match played as the Fire, and only two teams a better goals against average.) Couple that with an unorganized offense, and the expectations for a good showing should not be high. There are still some very talented individuals at Colorado and that can be seen in their play. But some of the near hysteria that one hears from some Colorado fans borders on loss of touch with reality.
Unlike the Tampa Bay Mutiny of 2001, the Rapids actually look pretty good for long stretches. Unfortunately Wes Hart, playing out of positin or not, chose last night to have his worst professional game ever, and was responsble for 3 goals in the 1st half. Otherwise, who knows what hapens? Still, I think Hankinson needs to be fired. They need a new face with new blood and some fresh ideas.
Wes Hart must be seeing Beasley's vapor trails in his dreams. I just can't believe he kept putting his hand in the fire after getting burned so many times. Fraser has looked extremely vulnerable all season, he may be at the end of the line. Crawford, Stewart and Rizo don't inspire much confidence and I don't know what the deal is with Herdsman. Garlick just seems unathletic. Offensively they just need to settle on a playmaker and get ZiZi Roberts and Spencer healthy at the same time so they can learn to play together. Carrierri should be a spark off the bench not a 90 minute guy. The Rapids totally outplayed the Metrostars for the first half of their game and were very unlucky to come away with no points. They've been outshooting people and coming up empty. Unless they've given up on the coach, I suspect that getting Mastroeni and Roberts back and getting in a few games with a consistent lineup will alter their fortunes.
Bad Pretty darn bad. Still enough talent to play ok for parts of some games (2nd half against SJ, 1st half against RotMasters), but not enough to be a good team for a whole game, much less week in and week out. Some guys (Fraser, Spencer, Henderson) who used to be top-flight MLS players but can't quite get it done any more due to age and/or injury. Not nearly enough MLS-starter-quality defenders. The best player on the team (Pablo) gets too many stupid fouls and cards and is wasting his leadership opportunity. GK's adequate at best. Then add in all the mysterious coaching decisions, and you get a bad team. One that probably won't get much better without a lot of changes.
Just go. As a DCU fan, I have noticed several options that you can use to mitigate the pain of your experience. You can: 1) Get mad as hell, yell about trading that or that player or firing the coach, 2) Lower your expectations so that any little thing makes you happy, like a goal, or if things are as bad as they are here in DC, a completed pass, 3) Detach, and just amuse yourself at some of the decisions made on the field. Any of these options are still pretty fun. Especially the first.
Myself and Mike Jefferies are pretty damn glad someone sucks worse than we do right now. Me because we can still make the playoffs and him because not many people are calling for Jefferies head....yet. As soon as Hankinson gets fired though, the spotlight will shift uncomfortably to Coach Jefferies. You know, I was stone cold sober watching the Fire v Rapids game Sunday night (and maybe that's part of the problem) but I thought it was one of the better played MLS game so far this year, including the Rapids. The Fire combination plays were brilliant, give and goes working like clockwork. The ball control for both sides was great. From the Rapids perspective, That late screamer by Chung should have/could have been a goal. You can also argue that those 2 PK's were gifts to the Fire - we've all seen those not called. Chungs shot goes in, its 2-1. A lot closer than 4-0. That said, the Rapids cannot buy a goal with a Gold Card. Spencer is punchless, Chung has been unlucky and I don't remember Carrieri or Henderson getting a shot off. I think their ball control is fine but they have very little offense. Plus Robin Fraser is slowing down quickly, which doesn't help.
I don't know, as a Rapids fan I thought they were pretty blatent penalties, especially Hart's takedown on Beasley. You might be able to let the second one slide due to the passive offside, but lets face it, at that point the difference between 3-0 and 4-0 would have been meaningless.