There may not be two more inconsistent teams in MLS than the Colorado Rapids and Houston Dynamo. The Rapids have bounced between good stretches and bad stretches and pushed their winless streak to three games against a Dynamo team that has its own issues. In its past six matches, Houston has tied, lost and won, then won lost and tied. That isn’t exactly the consistency you would expect of a defending champion.
To be fair, both teams had national team absences, but Houston still had plenty of firepower to pull off the road win. As for Colorado, the Rapids had to at least be happy not to surrender three goals for the third straight game.
SBI Correspondent Craig de Aragon took in the action and provided his perspective on the state of the Rapids (Houston correspondent Alex Swaim just returned from a trip out of the country).
Another flat performance from the Rapids
By CRAIG de ARAGON
I am getting married this summer. It’s going to be in the Church. Because of that, my fiancée and I are required to attend a two-day retreat covering everything about catholic marriage. That retreat was this weekend.
After eight hours of classes Saturday, which basically entailed me doodling on a notepad and refreshing the web browser on my phone to see the Netherlands/Russia score, we headed to the stadium. It was a hot day, but luckily the sun had just gone beneath the roof of the stadium at game time to save me from getting sunburned. I was expecting a good game, and really, anything would be more entertaining that what I sat through earlier in the day. But after watching the Rapids play Houston for 90 minutes to a 0-0 stalemate, I’m not too sure which was worse. The Rapids offense was as ineffective as the “Rhythm Method”. I don’t know which was filled with more hesitancy; the Deacon talking about the “conjugal” part of marriage or the Rapids midfield. All evening they made runs with no destination and held possession by making lateral passes to each other; both of which distracted fans from seeing that there was really no creativity on the field.
The Rapids were shut out for only the second time this year, and I should feel good about that. They showed effort from the very beginning of the game, and I should feel good about that. But once again the offense didn’t show up when it needed to, just like the lights at the stadium in the 67th minute.
The team really didn’t play that bad. If this game was 2 months ago, I would have been encouraged. But with the season seemingly going down hill, even minor setbacks seem to be magnified.
One thing that was good to see was Terry Cooke back out on the field. Although it was too bad that Jacob Peterson picked up an injury, Cooke looked refreshed, sent in some good crosses and also ate up all the attention he could get from the supporters’ group. When the lights went out, he ran all the way across the field to acknowledge the fans. He hammed it up more than the 6 year old girl practicing her cheerleading in the Cantina after the game.
Looking at the bright side, we found out a couple of things this week. The Rapids need Terry Cooke to play well to have a happy ending to the season, and I’m way too immature to sit through any more Natural Family Planning classes.
Thanks for all the nice words guys, and to you CO_Soccer_FAN, congratulations on your happy marriage. The retreat really wasn’t that bad, and we did learn quite a bit.
As for the Rapids, why do you think we fall into this slump every summer?
Craig, good commentary as usual. The Rapids really need to stop this pattern of putting their offense in the freezer for the entire summer. After so many missed chances, Omar Cummings must be about ready to hit a hot streak (hopefully). Rapids don’t really have an issue with hustle, but then again games aren’t won by who earned it more. These are professionals, and need to step up and score some goals. A nil-nil draw in the Champions League is acceptable, nil-nil in a MLS game in the US is decidedly not. It can get hot in the stands at DSG under the mile-high sunshine, fans need to be sent home happy, and a defensive-minded draw doesn’t do that.
Craig, I can relate to your catholic weekend retreat story since I attended myself 17 years ago somewhere north of Denver. Knowing the Catholic church, they probably haven’t changed a thing since then and yes it was one of the longest weekends of my life. However, looking back, I believe the biggest reason my wife and I are still happily married (and most of our friends aren’t) is because of that weekend retreat so hang in there.
Anyway, great write-up. I too was at the game and found the game to be good and entertaining. The downfall is the final result and the Rapids need to find their Mojo again to move up in the MLS Western standings and make something out of this season. Maybe the return of Cooke is the answer (I hope).
That might be the funniest post out of all the Supporter’s Views, good stuff!
Didn’t realize Cooke was out, the Rapids need him and Gomez clicking to have any hope. Also, what’s up with Conner Casey these days? Is he fit enough to play more than 45 at a time?