Well, I'm choosing to forget last Saturday's 'game' against Spain. It's time for the United States of America to take on the boys up north in their first game of the Gold Cup group stage. I'm still not convinced that this team has what it takes to win the whole thing, but they should be able to defeat all of the other teams in their group.
If you feel like sticking around Burgundy Wave and discussing or commenting on the USA-Canada game, feel free to do it here.
Actually, majority isn't even the word for it, we need something stronger. How about "damn near all" of it? Conor and Omar have only been the starting duo up top for a single game this season, the home opener against Portland. Since then, long-term injuries to both as well as a trip to Jamaica for Cummings on international duty have kept them apart. We've seen just about every other starting combination that you can think of – Folan/Amarikwa, Casey/Akpan, Cummings/Akpan, Folan/Casey, et. al. – but pretty much all of them have lacked the straight up magic that we see on the pitch whenever our first two strikers are out there together. There really is no substitute for experience and these two have a great sense about each other.
Either way, it will be great watching the best strike-force in the league finally glue itself back together, especially in a hostile environment like Portland. The team could not have picked a better time to heal itself up, considering June is going to be a slow enough month that the team will have had time to get themselves back as close to 100% as they possibly can going into the terribly exhausting July schedule and CONCACAF games slated for August.
Colorado set a historical mark – well, actually two historical marks if you count the longest unbeaten streak in Franchise history – last Saturday against the Philadelphia Union when they drew their sixth straight game, 1-1. The six draws in a row are the most that any team has had in a row in Major League Soccer's short history, and it's beginning to get a bit frustrating to watch for Rapids fans, as the majority of these games were winnable.
Basically, let's dissect the form of Colorado through these draws and see just how good or bad Colorado has really been throughout.
Chicago Fire Home 1-1
Who scored first: Chicago, Colorado retaliated in the second half.
Which team had the better play overall?: Close, but Colorado had the edge. Chicago's only goal as well as most of their chances came on the counter while Colorado had the bulk of the possession throughout the match. Had it not been for a weakened defense, Chicago might not have scored at all.
Non-draw Result: Colorado Win
Philadelphia Union Home 1-1
Who scored first: Colorado, Philly retaliated four minutes later.
Which team had the better play overall?: Colorado in most facets. Although they had several slow periods where Philly had the better play, the Rapids outshot Philly by five with an extra shot on goal, and their regular shots looked more dangerous overall. They also had much better and more frequent passing than the Union.
Non-draw Result: Colorado Win
So after our totally scientific study here, we come out with a surprisingly respectable 5-2. The point of this? Well, Colorado has certainly not been playing terribly in this draw streak but unfortunate timing on opposition goals and the occasional crapping of the bed by the offense in tough places has lead to this great eight game unbeaten streak wherein seven of them were the almighty tie. A simple burst of good luck is all it would have taken from most of these games to make another Houston situational win.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Pablo Mastroeni. Gotta hand it to him, that was obviously a masterful dive if it got a penalty called. He was shutdown in his defensive duties as well, but we've come to expect that from him.
GOAT OF THE MATCH: Quincy Amarikwa. Ineffective as always, a detriment to the team by now. He is a complete annoyance to watch at this point, constantly offside, unable to settle a ball to save his life and all around slow to catch up to plays.
Large game that the Rapids should pull a point out of today, let's get it started. This here's your gamethread for talking about the game before, during and after the events have unfolded. If this is even half as good as the last game these two teams played on my birthday, we'll be in for a treat.
Sadly, I'm still expecting a draw. Go Rapids!
Large game that the Rapids should pull a point out of today, let's get it started. This here's your gamethread for talking about the game before, during and after the events have unfolded. If this is even half as good as the last game these two teams played on my birthday, we'll be in for a treat.
Sadly, I'm still expecting a draw. Go Rapids!
Usually before games, the SBnation MLS editors tend to get together via e-mail and take a couple of questions from each other. Last season though, SBnation's Phildelphia Union blog The Brotherly Game and our own Burgundy Wave pioneered a new method of getting to know each others teams, getting together on AIM or Google or something and having a little talking session. Flows a bit better, anyway. Below is part two of my discussion with Scott Kessler of tBG.Make sure to go here first and read the first half of the conversation before going below!
Fast forward to a year later and the situation surrounding the Rapids v Union match in Commerce City is a bit different.
That's right, it's been a full month since we saw the Rapids come out with a result that didn't earn them a single point. Strange to think that six games into the year we hadn't seen a draw at all. Beating the Union would be a welcome change to the unfortunate tie-itis that Colorado has been facing lately, but I don't see it happening against such a strong defensive squad. Then again, I almost always get my predictions wrong here, so we'll probably see a true result either way. Just to spite me, y'know?
UZ'S PREDICTION – 1-1 Draw
As usual, here's some fun reading material for you before the game today.
Monday Morning Centre Back: Koke is Spanish for Quitter – Dynamo Theory – Cowardly move by Koke to ditch out on the Dynamo. The opposite of class from the selfish striker after a few sub-par appearances.
BBC Sport – Wolverhampton Wanderers release keeper Marcus Hahnemann – Hahnemann was a member of the Rapids squad in 1997 that made the MLS Cup final against DC United. He's getting old but don't forget that he was an EPL starter last season, it takes a lot of skill to get that far. Seattle appears to be the team most interested in him in MLS.
YouTube – Two Kids On The Sidelines Episode 117 – No Fan Alone's weekly… I'm not sure what this is, but it involves children and Ross LaBeaux.
USA eyes potential 2022 World Cup revote – World Soccer – Yahoo! Sports – Hurr durr
Hannover and U.S. international winger DaMarcus Beasley's possible move to Mexico would be a blow for MLS – Goal.com – I disagree that losing Beasley would be a terrible thing for MLS. It's true that we can use as many high profile players as we can get around this league but I would argue that losing a player to the Mexican leagues isn't really a blow. If he went to Qatar or something, I'd get worried. It's a money and prestige issue and Mexico wins in both of those capacities.
