Rapids-Revolution Preview: The Interim Bowl

COMMERCE CITY – Out of the playoff race. Worst record in the league. Lost the Rocky Mountain Cup. Robin Fraser gone. Yet, Saturday’s matchup against the New England Revolution might ironically be the most intriguing one yet for the 2023 Colorado Rapids. 

When: Saturday, September 16 @7:30 pm MDT

Where: DICK’s Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, Colorado

TV/Streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV

Unrest in New England

The Revs’ sporting director and head coach, Bruce Arena, was suspended in late July for “inappropriate and insensitive remarks”. The nature of those comments has yet to be revealed, and Arena officially resigned from his post on September 9th.

His longtime assistant, Richie Williams, had been managing the team in Arena’s absence and was expected to take up interim duties until the end of the 2023 season, per the Revs’ official statement.

The lack of clarity around Arena’s resignation led to unrest among the players, which culminated in a mutiny. The players refused to train on Tuesday, leading to another club statement announcing that New England Revolution II head coach Clint Peay would assume the interim duties instead of Williams.

Curiously enough, there was no mention of Richie Williams and his future at the club in the press release.

Colorado Rapids vs New England Revolution H2H

The Rapids and Revolution have not met since October of 2021, and have only faced off three times in the past five seasons. Colorado lost all three of those matches, with two of them having been played in New England.

The last time the Rapids beat the Revs was all the way back in 2017, where a Dominique Badji goal assisted by Jared Watts was enough to seal a 1-0 victory.

Yes, it’s been that long. Colorado historically however have a good record when hosting the Revs. We’ll see if Jameson’s Night magic can return to the DSGP for the first time in six years.

Weaker on the Road

New England’s strong standing in the East is mainly built on their showings at home, as they are the only side who has yet to lose a home game this season. Their traveling performances tell a different story, having only picked up 14 points from 13 matches. Peay’s side are one of the premier goal scoring threats in MLS, netting 46 goals in 27 games. However, only 14 of those were scored away from home.

The 2021 MLS MVP Carles Gil has directly contributed to 20 of those 46 goals and will pose the biggest threat to a leaky Rapids backline. The Revs’ captain has never scored against the Rapids, albeit only having faced them twice since his arrival in 2019.

The Revolution defense, fifth best in the East, has allowed 32 goals and is led by experienced center back Dave Romney, who has eight clean sheets in 27 starts this year. 

Recent Form

It takes a tremendous amount of disarray to make the Rapids look like the stable club, and the week’s past events indicate that the Revs are intent on achieving that. The difference is that the Rapids find themselves at the bottom of the league, and New England is second in the Eastern Conference.

Since Arena’s suspension, they’ve managed to win only one of their four league matches, a narrow 1-0 victory against the New York Red Bulls. New England will likely need a win to remain second, as the race for the top seeds in the East is extremely congested with New England, Orlando City, Philadelphia, Columbus, Atlanta, and Nashville all behind the Revs by eight points or less.

The Rapids will be looking to break a three-match winless streak in MLS. Colorado is still in with a chance of avoiding the “Wooden Spoon”, but they’ll need to at least pick up some draws here and there to overcome Toronto FC, who leads by three points.  

Up in the Air

The week of turmoil that both clubs have endured will undoubtedly be the dominating narrative heading into this match, as both sides are expected to finish out the year with interim head coaches. With planned fan walkouts at DSG, player mutinies, and no clear sense of direction for either club, the Interim Bowl might not be a great watch, but it should certainly prove a chaotic one. 

Photo Credit: Mark Shaiken.

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