In today's expansion draft the Montreal Impact picked Sanna Nyassi from the Rapids. No team could
lose more than one player, so after that selection the rest of the exposed players were safe.
Losing a player is never ideal, but given the possible outcomes this was probably the best result
we could have hoped for.
And down the stretch they come! As the playoffs get closer, games matter more. The LA Galaxy,
leaders in the Supporters' Shield race, take on the reigning MLS Cup Champions - the Colorado
Rapids.
1 - Cardozo sizzles a shot wide - opportunistic, but off-target.
3 - Kyle's Keys for the game don't include any inside dirt from his days as a Galaxy player.
The starting target forward for the Rapids All-Time Team is
Conor Casey.How Acquired: Acquired from Toronto FC in exchange for allocation money, allocation
position, and the rights to Riley O'Neill .
Years In Colorado: Early 2007 through present
This was an easy pick.
Chicago Fire Setup: Frank Klopas' side continued to show how much they have upgraded in this
dominating victory over the Defending MLS Champion Colorado Rapids. The speed in the partnership of
Oduro and Nyarko up top was too much for the Colorado back line to handle. Without Marvel Wynne's
speed to cover for the rest of the 3 defenders, Colorado would have conceded quite a few more
goals.
Last night the Rapids tried out a new lineup but got similar results to what they've been seeing.
Giving Cummings some continued rest Folan was put up front with Nyassi as a withdrawn striker
underneath him. Early on it paid off, as Kimura launched Mastroeni(?!?!) down the right sideline
and Pablo whipped in a perfect cross that Folan headed into the upper corner for the lead.
Rapids' StrategyWith Nyassi on fire, it was easy for Gary Smith to maintain his dynamic strike partnership with
Omar Cummings. The home side employed their usual 4-4-2 lineup with Mastroeni and Larentowicz in
central midfield and Mullan and Thompson on the flanks. The first half strategy was to switch the
ball across the field to Mullan who was in acres of space because the Crew kept a narrow defensive
shell.
Photo by Aaron S
Looking back at this weekend's MLS action the one thing I noticed with many of the results was
guts. Or fortitude. Or cojones. Or other less family-friendly terms. What I mean by all
this is that so many of the results and so many of the players involved in them showed some real
intestinal fortitude under conditions that would normally cause teams to wilt.
Seattle's Strategy Hurtado went off injured v Portland and Ianni was brought on to replace
him at center back. Other than that, the starting XI seems to be the preferred lineup for Sigi
Schmid. Alonso and Friberg paired in the center of midfield with Fernandez and Rosales out wide.
Houston Dynamo (4-6-7, 19 pts.) at Colorado Rapids (5-5-7, 22 pts.) Dick's Sporting Goods Park,
Commerce City, CO - 8:00pm CT
BROADCAST ESPN2 (ENG TV) ESPN Deportes (SPN TV) SportsTalk 790 (ENG Radio) La Ranchera 850
(SPN Radio)
REFEREE: Baldomero Toledo. MLS Career: 113 games; FC/gm: 25.
Sporting KC (aka the SporKCs) makes its first trip to Denver since they renamed themselves from the
Kansas City Wizards (a much better name IMO). They also took our kits as they are now the light
blue team in the league while we went to the white road kits. The SporKCs are in the 9th game of a
10 game road trip before their new stadium opens next month, and they have been spectacularly
unsuccessful on the road with only 1 win and 1 draw so far.
On May 25th, 1778 British-led forces raided the Rhode Island towns of Bristol and Warren. They took
prisoners and supplies before withdrawing. On May 25th, 2011 the British-led Rapids will try to
raid another Northeast town, this time Harrison, NJ. They hope to take points and confidence with
them when they withdraw.
Toronto came to town with 4 former Rapids on their roster, 2 of them from the Clavijo era. As part
of their return to Denver they returned Clavijo-era ball to the Rapids. An ugly 0-0 game then
played out.
The closest the Rapids got to a goal was right before halftime when Quincy Amarikwa was tripped up
in the corner of the box, but didn't get the PK call.
OK, computer problems are fixed and I'm (pretty much) healthy again so back to our regularly
scheduled blogging. On Sunday Toronto FC is in town along with 4 former Rapids (most on one team in
the league). Dan Gargan, Ty Harden, Jacob Peterson, and Adrian "Dalek" Cann will have their sights
back on Denver for this weekend's game.
Continuing our War of 1812 history lesson, 197 years ago tomorrow a small British flotilla engaged
an American force at the mouth of Otter Creek on Lake Champlain. The British were driven off and
proceeded up Bouquet River to destroy the flour supplies in the mills at the base of the falls
before re-engaging the Americans on the return trip.
On this date 197 years ago the British successfully attacked Fort Oswego, stealing supplies before
withdrawing the next day. Tomorrow the British-led Rapids will attempt to successfully attack the
Revolution in their fort of Gillette Stadium and will hope to steal 3 points. This will be
Colorado's third game this week, and the lineup is still depleted by injury.
Colorado has to bounce back quickly from last Saturday's disappointment. Tomorrow the Rapids are
back at it, this time on the road in Houston to face the Dynamo. The Dynamo, especially in Houston,
has been a bit of a nemesis for Colorado and they'll be looking to break this 4 game winless streak
against a team that beat DC 4-1 at home on Friday.
Its been a rough week for the Rapids. The Mullan incident hung over the team all week, and they're
in the middle of a 3 game losing and scoreless streak. They try to right the ship tomorrow when the
Chicago Fire come to town. Game time tomorrow at the Dick is 7pm. Class VI and the Pid Army are
having a themed tailgate of Chicago dogs starting at 4pm in the regular spot.
The undermanned Rapids played Fake Salt Lake even for 92 minutes. Then the refs got involved and
the Rapids were out-manned 15 to 11 which resulted in a 1-0 loss.
The weather was as bad as we've seen it in years, cold, wet, window, and snow at the end. This may
have been an equalizer for the teams as the Rapids were missing 3 starters (Casey, Mastroeni,
Wallace) and lost two more players to injury during the game (Amarikwa, Smith).
FC Dallas has a few so-called "rivalries". There's the Brimstone Cup, between FCD and the
Chicago Fire, which has been well documented. There's also the in-state rival Houston Dynamo,
which has accounted for more than one off the field skirmish, many of which can be attributed to
the trash can that is Robertson Stadium.
First Kick is just a few days away. That game will feature the defending Supporters' Shield
winners, the LA Galaxy, and will be showed live on ESPN. It should be an exciting game, packed with
pomp, circumstance and actual meaning.
In the meantime, we'll have to settle for one more preseason game as the Seattle Sounders take
on the Colorado Rapids in what is being billed as the second annual Community Shield.
