Sunday, March 22, 2009
Chivas Pounce to Take Game Away From Rapids
It kind of reminded me of watching the England national team. Some very good moments when taking the game to the opposition but a seeming inability to keep the pressure on for the full 90 minutes, so allowing the opposition to get crucially back into the game. There's a lot to be impressed about the season opener for the Colorado Rapids but we lost the game in a crucial five minute period when some concentration went awry, we gave the ball away to Chivas and Paulo Nagamura finished fantastically well to bury us. I don't think Matt Pickens will be beaten from 25 yards out too often this season and that was a great strike for Chivas' opening goal. Kosuke Kimura will be having some nightmares about his header out of defense which led to Nagamura's second but these things happen and we and he shouldn't get too disheartened by it. Just head it away from the center of the field next time, Kosuke! The Rapids played very well in the opening 45 minutes, scoring the opening goal of the game when Omar Cummings latched onto Zach Thornton's mistake to poach one close in. They also never gave up and came back furiously in the last quarter to try and get a deserved equalizer. It wasn't to be but the team was aggressive and confident for the vast majority of the match and this bodes well. As one of the Rapids' non-traveling players told me at SoBo yesterday, there are another 29 games to go and there is much to look forward to. For what it's worth, it would have been good to see Terry Cooke on at the end. We could have done with one of his trademark crosses in from the right onto Conor Casey's head. The game was crying out for it as we pressed for that equalizer. I wouldn't mind betting Cooke will be given the nod for the home opener and the wide expanses of DSG Park next week.
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4 comments:
I see the same old problems and the same old mistakes the Rapids have been making for years. Casey and Cummings HAVE TO LEARN TO FINISH! Now with a thinned out team we must rely on them to finish. I'm tired of seeing close misses and hit post and bars. I agree, it would have been nice to see big crosses from Cooke, and it would have been nice to have some veterans in Defense to lock down the win. And do I have to say anything about the poor goalkeeping?! Both goals should have been saved and probably would have been if we had Bouna between the pipes. BBB... Bring Back Bouna!
It would have taken a spectacular save on the first goal and NOBODY could have gotten to that second goal. The only bad goalkeeping I saw was from Snack Thornton.
Sorry, I was logged in as my daughter Emily. She could care less about soccer but did just get accepted to Lewis & Clark so by the time she is a junior in college I could be visiting her and traveling to see the Rapids in Portland. :)
Great post nick. I wholeheartedly agree with your optimism. The boys showed some tenacity and pressue throughout (save the 5 minutes of lost focus that killed us) and it seems obvious that everyone has a role they are comfortable with and believe in.
I think we'll see a much better result against KC.
As for the finishing, I don't know that Casey has much problems with that - if anything I would say he made the best out of what were very few QUALITY chances on frame. Cummings, on the other hand, is growing into a striker and I see marked improvement from him every time he takes the pitch. At the very least, he should get credit for being in position to take advantage of Thorton's shank.
I'm still optimistic about this season.
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