Q & A with Gary Smith (Denver Post)

Totoro · Jun 22, 2010

Submit questions for the Denver Post mailbag w/Gary Smith. Answers to appear online on Friday.

Totoro · Jun 23, 2010

Coach Smith, your team seems to have the momentum of a runaway freight train. Why are you so popular?

Totoro · Jun 27, 2010

Here's the Q & A. Pretty boring stuff, almost nothing about the Rapids.

This is about it for the Rapids stuff:

Teams in the World Cup playing with two holding midfielders have been largely criticized for playing a dull brand of soccer. The Rapids are playing this brand of soccer, but are finding success they haven't seen in years. What's your theory on putting out an attractive brand of soccer versus putting out a winning side? Do you think you can do both in MLS?
--Mark, Boulder

GS: Of course I think about this. If you look at our team right now, those guys in the spine of our team, the two center backs and the two center mids, they give the other guys support and a confidence to express themselves some more. I would hope Omar (Cummings), Conor (Casey), Wells (Thompson), Jeff (Larentowicz), would feel confident that there are guys around them to break the play up.

Winning is the most important thing, of course. Everyone wants to be playing champagne football. But if you're losing, the criticism will come. It's all about balance. Within the past four or five games, our buildup play has been as good as it's been since I've been here. We've controlled large portions of the game with possession. That dictates how often how the opposing side can gain chances.

I want to play an expressive style, but if we need to knuckle down and be difficult to break down, that's an essential part of the game. Finding the right fluency within the team is important.
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GoRapids · Jun 28, 2010

That was a good question!!!