Well, another long painful season ahead...Can't wait to get a tone deaf email this week asking if I want to buy patio seats for the home opener
If yall want to look on the bright side, Rapids found the back of the net twice tonight! And we outscored them in the 2nd half! Woo!
Well, it wasn't the officiating. It was nice to win the second half "friendly" 1-0. Yeah, Portland does have a good home field and can run up the score at home. Rapids have done that, too, at home. But here we are (again) with a series of road matches to start the season, and a blowout loss to firmly entrench the Rapids in last place (again). Maybe I will save this post as I seem to be able to use it every year...... R
Our last 4 openers combined we've been outscored 11-1. And the first of those (in 2021) was a 0-0 draw.
Starting Larraz and Ronan in the middle was a pretty massive mistake. Without an actual DM in the middle to help break up plays in transition, this isn't going to work. Larraz in particular was poor, and it forced Rosenberry out of position multiple times. Rosenberry himself also had his worst ever game in a Rapids kit. He had a hand in all four goals. Also, Navarro better start scoring goals. If we don't see any production in the next 3ish games from him, it's never gonna happen.
I didn't renew season tickets for the first time since the dick opened. That is the good news. Bad news is I broke down and bought the MLS season pass just before the game. There goes $80 down the drain. Have tickets to the home opener next weekend. Is it wrong to wish for a snow classico so there is something if interest?
[QUOTE="Rod1916, post: 42037435, member: 207975”] Have tickets to the home opener next weekend. Is it wrong to wish for a snow classico so there is something if interest?[/QUOTE] It is not wrong, it is wise. R
Hey at least with Season Pass, you can watch all the other, better teams play soccer. Seattle - LAFC was very entertaining!
I actually think last night the biggest problem wasn’t the lineup. The guys all fought hard. The biggest problem was the tactics. Portland was defending compressed, and attacking wide. We were defending compressed, and then trying to attack down the middle in possession. All of this fed right into Portlands gameplan. That then forced Larraz and Ronan into constant 1v1 defending that if they got turned in, it led to a wide open overlap with numbers. If Armas is unable to adjust tactically to what the game gives, then we are in for a LOOOOONG season. You can’t square peg round hole your way through this league. I get we wanted to play aggressive, tactical soccer. But last night, the guys were putting in intense effort, but not in an effective way. It was encouraging to see everyone still fighting for something - but man, if the opposition is giving you wide spaces to attack in, by golly, go attack them. And if they are constantly spraying it out wide - stop leaving them open space on the turn!
Not reading through the entire thread, post game before I state this - In the first 20 minutes the Rapids were slow to the ball and quick to lose it when they did get a touch. And when the Timbers got possession they were at the 'Pids very quickly which is part of the reason why the defense was exposed so often in that period of time. After the Timbers' third goal they ceded possession to some extent and it allowed that Rapids to get a bit more comfortable. It was good to see that the Rapids didn't give up and really kept pushing for goals through the rest of the game. In the first half it seemed Bassett was play very wide and Mihailovic was not much involved. Not a recipe for success.
Listening to the post game press conference - Armas acknowledges not winning enough second balls, etc. That's a start.
I only watched the first half, but I noted the same bewilderment at the use of Bassett and Mihailovic. The midfield was very clogged on our possession, and Bassett was completely missing in action at least early in the game. Shouldn't Bassett be more central and Mihailovic out wide?
Apparently, Mihailovic is more effective playing more in the middle than out wide, but so is Bassett. Not sure what the answer is. And it seems that in the second half this wasn't an issue.