Start of the New Era in Colorado- Rapids vs Galaxy Preview

Carson, CA— The Colorado Rapids look to continue the recent good form when they face the LA Galaxy in Carson. It will be a battle of two teams with two completely different seasons so far. Colorado will be fighting for a playoff spot during the last seven matches of the season. While LA is all but eliminated from the playoff chase. But the former MLS champions will be looking forward to a Leagues Cup Semifinal against Seattle just days after the Rapids come to town. We could see some rotation for the Galaxy, while Colorado has a one-game-a-week pace for the rest of the regular season. Could we see the debuts for Rob Holding or Paxten Aaronson? Let’s take a look at the matchup.

When: Thursday, August 23rd @ 8:30 p.m. MST

Where: Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, CA

TV/Streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV

Rafa Leads Colorado to Win on Balboa’s Night

Despite it being a night to celebrate the legend that is Marcelo Balboa, it was the Rafa Navarro show in Colorado when Atlanta came to town. The Brazilian striker, through all of the transfer rumors surrounding him, put his head down and continued to work. The work was rewarded against Atlanta, as Rafa scored twice and assisted once on route to a 3-1 win over The Five Stripes. Navarro also earned Player of the Matchday honors, despite what Messi fans will say a poll looked like. It marked the first time any MLS club had one Player of the Matchday honors for both MLS and MLS Next Pro, as Mamadou Billo Diop earned MLS Next Pro Player of the Matchday honors after his three goals and one assist performance against Austin 2. Shoutout Billo Diop!

It wasn’t always easy for the Rapids against Atlanta, however. Despite an early Darren Yapi goal being cancelled out by an Aleksey Miranchuk goal, keeping the scores level at half, Atlanta outpossessed and outshot Colorado in the first half. This could have been the game plan for Colorado, who lined up in the 5-2-3 formation again. The formation did the job, as the Rapids scrapped a goal and looked in control 17 minutes in. A perfect situation for the tactic at hand. But poor pressing outside the Rapid box gave Atlanta a way back into the game. All of a sudden, the trap game was looking to be a trap game.

Luckily for Colorado, Armas switched to a 4-2-4 look at the hour mark and subbed in Ted Ku-DiPietro. Almost immediately, KDP made his mark, playing in Rafa down the wing. The Brazilian dribbled at the defense and won a penalty. He then later added another after a good run from Calvin Harris. In ten minutes, the switch to a more attacking formation paved the way for Colorado to score twice. And with a late goal-line clearance from Miranchuk on his own teammate’s shot, Colorado was able to give Balboa the night he deserved, and got a massive three points at home.

Lineup Prediction:

Steffen / Cannon, Maxsø (c), Cobb, Vines / C. Bassett, Larraz / C. Harris, Ku-DiPietro, Yapi / Navarro

Kimani Stewart-Baynes joins the three Rapids who we knew were injured in Josh Atencio, Connor Ronan, and Wayne Frederick II. The Rapids will continue to be thin at center midfield with three options continuing to be hurt. With Sydney Wathuta now out of short-term call-ups, we could very well see an Ali Fadal or Daouda Amadou debut for the team if Cole or Oli need a rest.

Or another potential debutant could come into play. Paxten Aaronson calls himself a 10 or an 8 in the center of the park; he could be called upon if needed to fill a role in the center of the park. I would expect Colorado to be more patient for his inevitable debut for the team, as he has only had a few days of training since signing. Rob Holding is in a similar boat to Aaronson. Holding only recently got his Visa and was able to join Rapids training as of Wednesday. I would expect the Rapids to give these guys some more time to acclimate to the team. They could see them getting some minutes off the bench in LA. Alexis Manyoma will continue to have to wait, as he will still be without a Visa by Saturday.

It will be interesting to see how the team will line up when all of their summer transfer signings are ready to go. I would expect that Aaronson, Holding, and Manyoma will get starting minutes. Who is sacrificed and in what formation are the biggest questions once all three are ready and available. For LA, however, one would expect Armas to go with the 5-2-3/3-4-3 that’s worked lately and that they tried last year against LA in the playoffs. However, the Gs are a wounded animal right now. Colorado should be looking to be more possessive and direct given their weakness up the middle. I got a hunch they go 4-2-3-1. Let Bassett dictate the tempo. Let Yapi and Navarro go wild on their center backs.

In the first edition of this matchup, LA really struggled when Colorado went into a shell to protect the two-goal lead. Colorado could build on this to frustrate the home team and score a goal or two to take all three points back to Colorado.

How Will Colorado Look With Paxten Aaronson?

It had been a recent discussion on what the best formation for the Rapids was. Especially after the shock departure of Djordje Mihailović halfway through Leagues Cup. The player they built the team around now was without their star. Chris Armas tried a few different looks to try to compensate for the loss. We saw a return to a 4-4-2 or 4-2-4 formation for the rest of the Leagues Cup. Since then, it has been a 5-2-3 formation for the Rapids, and it has potentially looked to be the formation of the future for the Rapids. And while it still very well might be, the acquisition of Paxten Aaronson makes it a little more complicated.

Paxten told the media at his introductory conference that he feels his best position is in the center of the field. Either as an eight or a ten, and it would be a long shot to see Aaronson line up alongside Cole Bassett in a double pivot. Especially with the depth in that position. This would mean Aaronson sees himself as a natural replacement for Djordje in the middle of the park. It would play right into the hands of Armas, who would get a more aggressive pressing number ten. This would also allow the team to go back to the formations they were using prior to this crazy transfer window.

However, there was potential in the many different looks Colorado has come up with throughout the season. And the team is flexible and ready to adapt. This gives the team a fluidity that is a danger to opposition teams trying to figure out what type of team they will be facing in the Colorado Rapids. At this point, however, I would pick whatever formation Paxten likes the most and go with it. With just eight matches left in the season, it is past the time for finding a new look. I would expect to see a similar 4-2-3-1 that we saw with Djordje, but with Aaronson now.

Potential Rotation for LA Galaxy?

It has been a season to forget for the six-time MLS champions, at least in league play. LA has strung together a run in the Leagues Cup, gaining seven points from the same three Liga MX teams that Colorado played. They followed this up by beating Pachuca 2-1 on Wednesday, meaning they will be playing Seattle in the semifinals next Wednesday. Sandwiched right in between those games are the Colorado Rapids. With LA dead last in the league, it would not be too far of a stretch to think that LA would rotate against the Rapids to give 100% in Leagues Cup. The big three of Paintsil, Pec, and Reus all went ninety minutes against Pachuca. LA also picked up some unfortunate knocks in the match and looked like a team that would benefit from a break.

Despite the Leagues Cup success, it has been a rough go of it this season for LA. The recent form tells the story for the Galaxy. Between Phase One and Two of Leagues Cup, where LA got three wins and a draw, they lost 4-0 to Seattle and 3-1 to Miami. LA has only seemed to string some results together against Liga MX teams. Sitting in dead last after winning the league the season before is a historically bad title defense. Despite the record, LA continues to have a dangerous core, even without Riqui Puig. Colorado will have to be on their toes if Paintsil, Pec, or Reus make an appearance.

Barring any rotation, it should be a similar team from LA to that of the one that lost 2-0 in Colorado in June. It will not be a similar team from Colorado, who played guys like Chido Awaziem, Djordje, and Kevin Cabral. It could be a debut for new signings Rob Holding, Paxten Aaronson, or Rafa Santos. We could see a match that has little resemblance to the first match of the season between the two sides. Either way, it is a good opportunity for Colorado to get three points and continue the climb up the Western Conference table.

Prediction: Colorado continues their upwards trajectory against a rotated LA side. Rapids win 2-0.

Photo Credit: Spencer Baldwin

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