My first half recap (linked to below) starts with the above quote and concludes that's exactly what the Rapids didn't do between 2009 and 2010. Some highlights: Mid-term grades: Forwards: C Midfield: C- Early in the season, the Rapids couldn’t maintain possession and were lucky to get a couple of good results. Coach Smith moved to more of a 4-5-1, moving Omar back which improved the possession immensely. While scoring chances were plenty, actually putting the ball in the net, however, didn’t happen consistently. As mentioned above, the Rapids, midfield has scored 3 less goals then last year. We can look to Clark not recovering, inconsistency from Mehdi Ballouchy and Wells Thompson as keys. Additionally, pairing JL and Pablo while doing well to disrupt the oppositions attack, does little to advance the Rapids offense. Some have called for a return to a 4-4-2. Without new personnel, that’s doomed to fail. Pablo is an effective defensive mid, but the Rapids have only one serviceable offensive minded midfielder, Jamie Smith. Lopez, who is the best of the bunch, hasn’t played more then 28 minutes in an MLS game. Thompson and Clark are ineffective. Defense: B- Goal: – B Coaching: C Overall: C+ A couple of offensive stats to highlight the ineffectiveness of the offense. The Rapids have a grand total of 9 assists this year. That puts them 2nd last, just above DC’s 6 and below FCD’s 11. The Rapids also have the 3rd fewest shots on goal, 60. Only Houston and Toronto have fewer. Without people working to get in position to shoot and others working to get them the ball, you end up with the above stats, not to mention barely a goal a game (1.13, tied for 10th). 2010 is looking a lot like 2007/8/9. Despite Paul Bravo’s claim to the contrary, regardless of what the Rapids may strive for, what they achieve has been average, mediocrity. The transfer window opened on July 15th. Let’s see the Rapids do something which shows they are in fact striving to be great. I know it’s much easier said then done, but the Rapids need to find offensive help. They need a scorer to push Casey and Cummings a strong creative player in midfield along with another midfielder to play on the left...NYRB, Toronto, Chicago, D.C. & Seattle have all taken steps the past weeks to improve their teams with a few others rumored to be doing the same. Staying the course and hoping things improve is not a winning strategy. (more in the link below)
Nice post, David. BTW, you forgot your link to the full post. I think your observation about Omar making moves into traffic are fairly spot on (not that I log the plays, but he does seem to do this a lot). I'd also say that when he does get the ball wide on the wing, the midfielders don't seem to make runs into the box to give an additional target along with Casey. So it seems to me his lack of assists is due in part to the formation and being hung out to dry on the wing, and in part due to him not being a very instinctive playmaker. I wonder if they could give Jamie Smith a little more of the winger role and maybe let Cummings creep up behind Casey more toward the center of the field. Though they've also been heavily reliant on Cummings's speed on the wing to try to break through the middle of the field. So they're kind of caught in a catch-22. It was interesting to see the team send Kimura far up the field in the 2nd half in that role...except the results were fairly comical.
I have to say that after the last month I'm very depressed about the Rapids. Two lack-luster performances in games we should have won. No major friendlies. No major signings, No DP. Its not hard to look at the rest of the league and realize the Rapids are getting left in the dust. And based on Bravo's comments its seems like nothing is going to change. At this point I expect the Rapids to make a minor personnel move, trumpet it as a major signing, miss the playoffs, raise ticket prices, and release another letter from Jeff Plush about how next year will be different. I just hope they hold another "Town Hall" meeting because I'll have a few questions about what they're using the increase on.
In spite of our slump, we seem to still be doing well compared to Rapids teams of the past (asterisks indicate years we've missed the playoffs): 1. 1999 - Mooch - 1.59375 2. 2010 - Smith - 1.5333 3. 2002 - Hankinson - 1.5 4. 1998 - Mooch - 1.4375 5. 2005 - Clavijo - 1.40625 6. 2004 - Hankinson - 1.367 7. 2009 - Smith - 1.3333* 8. 1997 - Mooch - 1.28125 8. 2006 - Clavijo - 1.28125 10. 2003 - Hankinson - 1.267 10. 2008 - Clavijo/Smith - 1.267* 12. 2000 - Mooch - 1.1875 13. 2007 - Clavijo - 1.167* 14. 1996 - Houghton/Wegerle - 1.03125* 15. 2001 - Hankinson - 0.923* The positives are that we're on pace for 46 points and this is one of the best teams we've ever seen in Colorado. What this does not tell you is that this years standings have some serious outliers which sticks us in 4th place in the West. You have teams like LA, Columbus and Shit Lake City who are running away from the pack...but you also have four really bad teams that haven't even broken 15 points yet. There are also more teams in the pool, which makes post season spots harder to get. All things considered we'd still make the playoffs right now, which I think is where most people's expectations are. The issue is if we can break this slump before it drags on long enough to ruin the season like it has the last 3 years.
I like the idea of playing Jamie Smith on the wing (i.e. right side) and have Cummings play toward the center of the field. As for the left mid position, I would like to see more of Lopez and less of Clark.
Indeed, that is the key issue. Looking at the last 5 games,which saw the Rapids, who now have 23 points, go 0-1-4. The teams the Rapids went 0-1-4 against now have the following number of points: 17 19 26 22 16 So the Rapids are 0-1-3 against 4 teams with fewer points and tied one with more. At that rate, the Rapids could be on the outside of the top eight looking in within a couple of weeks.
All discussions should start and end with Paul Andrews and Jeff Plush. These two are the most responsible for the club from Head Coach to Waterboy. Why do these two continue to get a free pass?
Play to practice and practice to play. What that means is you don't spend all of your practices doing drills in small spaces designated by cones. Throw all of the cones away and practice/play ball like it is intended to on a field 120' by 55'+. I have been to some of the rapids practices and all of this agility work and "volleyball" is not the answer to coaching a great team. By the time these players are pro they should have the necessary skills in speed and agility (barring injury recovery). Putting players in these little 10' by 20' boxes playing "keep away" during practice is absurd. Go play indoor soccer if you want to be that close to each other. Use the big field like it was intended for. AND PASS THE BALL TO EACH OTHER CORRECTLY. The goals will follow, guaranteed.
Have you seen the "MLS time statistics" thread from the news and analysis section? The o.p. assembled the times teams have held the lead, been tied, and been behind, with past seasons as well as 2010 data. The last two Rapids teams were in the lead 23.6% and 26% of the time, respectively (2008, 2009). This season: 16.1%. The only teams lower are Chivas USA, Philly, NE, and DC.
Kansas City schedules a mid-season friendly against one of the biggest, if not the biggest, soccer teams in the world. And then beats them. And then sells 700 new season tickets in one day. Hello, Rapids...are you listening? Are you thinking? Anybody home?