Nine Winless: Hapless Colorado Rapids Lose First Ever Game at CITYPARK

SAINT LOUIS – This loss should not be surprising for Rapids supporters. But it piles onto what has become a fantastically disappointing season and streak. On Saturday night the hapless Colorado Rapids made their first ever visit to CITYPARK in St. Louis, Missouri and lost, because of course they did.

Head Coach Robin Fraser did not have great news on the injury front for this match. Diego Rubio was unavailable with Jonathan Lewis and Ralph Priso joining him. It was the same back four that started vs LA Galaxy. Danny Leyva was in a double pivot with Connor Ronan. Michael Barrios made a rare start up from alongside Sam Nicholson and Kévin Cabral.

A half minute into the match Barrios played Cabral in on goal. Goalkeeper Roman Bürki picked up where he left off in the reverse fixture with a great save. Cole Bassett had multiple half chances but the visitors were otherwise nonthreatening in the first half.

Tim Parker opened the scoring four minutes in with an open header on a corner. Jared Stroud made it 2-0 in the 11th after a series of errors from the Rapids. Keegan Rosenberry turned it over. Ronan let Samuel Adeniran by and the center backs got pulled out of position. Captain goalkeeper William Yarbrough nearly got the ball as it went by his left foot.

The half ended 2-0. With CITY had only five shot attempts, they were by far the better side. On another night, it could have been 4-0 with a brace for Nicholas Gioacchini.

“We had some breakdowns in some very critical moments. A lot of it just came down to concentration. When you’re in a situation like we are, every mistake can seem incredibly consequential. Tonight was no different”, Fraser lamented postgame.

Colorado’s energy was better to start the second half. Lalas Abubakar subbed in for Steven Beitashour. Leyva had a good chance on a header on the hour mark but Bürki made the diving save.

The Rapids had a few other low quality chances. CITY played the game state, managing the result well. It ended 2-0.

Slump Busters SC

It’s just too easy for every team that plays Colorado. CITY were down their two attacking DPs in João Klauss and Eduard Löwen. Prior to the last game, they had lost three games in four. They needed a feel good home win with some role players stepping up.

“Started very very poor I’d say. You come in places like this you can’t start the way we did, giving up two early goals”, said Nicholson.

St. Louis got that but they also got two relatively easy goals in the opening 15 minutes. There’s little to no resistance. The Rapids are too easy to play against, including for opponents facing adversity.

Are the tactics off? Does it matter at this point?

It’s valid to question Fraser’s job security at this point. To give him (a small amount of credit), he’s been making different adjustments of late. Two straight games with a back four rather than three or five. He’s tried to add more numbers in midfield to get more control of the game. It was better in the second half against CITY’s diamond midfield, but it was too little too late.

“We played with four at the back which allowed us to play with wingers in higher positions. The entire second half we played with a back five. We were more controlled. Because of our patience, we were able to get into some good spots wide. The shift to the back five was definitely a positive for us”, said Fraser.

“The ownness is on the forward players. Sometimes it slows down a bit. We need to be a bit more positive and direct”, said Nicholson adding “When you first win it back, we need to make the decision as a team or as a player when to go or when to keep it. It’s something we need to get better at, when to go and when not to. To be honest, the coach has told us that. When to go, when not to. We need to just take it as he said a bit more.”

Cabral up top as a No. 9 out of position is not working. He’s yet to come up with any creative way of creating offense with Rubio injured. The only thing he has not tried to solve the defensive issues is play younger center backs more and it’s unclear if that would make a difference.

Perhaps Fraser has been dealt a hand one cannot possibly win with.

Is the season over if they don’t get two wins next week?

Nine games winless with two draws in that stretch. Fourteen points off of 20 games played and 11 points below the playoff line at time of publishing. Next week they have two home games, and a third after that before the Leagues Cup break. After that, 12 regular season games left with half of those at home.

“The fans are feeling the same thing as us. It’s an opportunity to put things right and get them back on our side”, said Nicholson. .

The Rapids are going to have to play at a near-Supporters’ Shield clip to make the playoffs. There’s basically no room for error at this point. With how bad Portland Timbers are right now, if this winless streak goes to 11, this writer cannot see how they get out of this.

Photo Credit: Antonia Geiger, emdashphoto.com.

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