The Colorado Rapids fell to their second straight defeat and their first at home this season as offensive class from the visiting Chicago Fire won the game in the opening 45 minutes. The Rapids are now facing a mini-crisis which they need to get out of quickly and my concern is that they may not have any strikers to get them out of it. I have a feeling that Conor Casey was booked right at the end of the game yesterday for dissent and, having already got a yellow, that may mean he is out of next week's now vital game against Dallas. However, I haven't see this reported anywhere else so I may be wrong. What I do know is that the Rapids desperately missed Omar Cummings, especially as Casey was not in the form we are used to.
The game was won in the first half. A seven-minute spell gave Chicago the two goals. The first was beautifully executed and, on reflection, was only what had been brewing for a while. John Thorrington had been dominant in midfield and he and Chris Rolfe had been causing a lot of problems for the Rapids. Another crisp passing move in midfield saw the ball eventually reach Brian McBride who chested the ball expertly to Mr. Blanco. A perfect pass and a great finish by Marco Pappa to fly past Matt Pickens in goal. A second goal followed, just seven minutes later, when nobody picked up Wilman Conde from the corner and the game was largely over.
Colorado did fight back well in the second half and could have had a penalty when Casey went over in the box just minutes from time. But, in truth, they didn't deserve it and Chicago were the better team. Not all was doom and glooom. Terry Cooke, making a rare start, was busy all 90 minutes and created a couple of lovely passing moves in the first half. His crossing in the second half, unfortunately, was not quite at the standard he would like and, with Casey off form, little was actually created in terms of scoring chances in the second half despite the dominance in possession. Next week's home game against Dallas is taking on big proportions.
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I remember Casey getting one Yellow Card during the game last night. But the bigger thing for me was the play of Peterson and Kimura. Peterson finally showed that his hard work could pay off with a great rebound goal. Kimura worked so hard and made a few key clears and some good passes as well.
Kimura is probably the hardest worker in the team. I'm glad he got the chance to start. I prefer Ihemelu at center back with Kimura on the right. Peterson did well, another good game after playing well against dallas. He still huffs and puffs a bit too much but he certainly injected some energy Saturday when he came on.
Good take on the game Nick. I thought it was a great 2nd half if only we could have put 2 in the net.
I loved seeing Kimura start and think we could have used him last game. He is the hardest worker on the team and we need a defender like him in every game.
I also loved seeing Cooke start and he showed he still has the play making skills he's known for. Unfortunatly the rest of the squad wasn't playing up to his level. Did you see that great break Terry made and passed the ball off to Medi for a return pass but Medi instead decided to hold the ball and go one on one... Why?!
I'm not a huge fan of Cummings only because I don't think he can hold his own as the Seattle game proved, but he makes a great assistant next to Casey.
I think the big failure occured from the start when Smith started Noonan up top. I think Noonan is a great midfielder but lacks the aggressive offensive mind a striker should have. I would have liked to see Peterson up top with Casey and Noonan replacing Medi to start. We may have had a better chance...
Either way you make a great point which was a topic of discussion among my row at the game... where are our strikers??!! We go from having way too many in the past couple of years to relying on only 2 to get the job done, and both play for thier national teams. I wish we could have kept McManus.
Btw... I would love to see some info on what happened to the Fireworks show. Disappointing game followed by a disappointing show.
James, there is some information on the Rapids' website re the fireworks. Apparently, you can come and see them again after the July 25th game if you have a July 4game ticket. Why anyone would choose to do that and not come to the game is a bit beyond me. How about offering discounted tickets to the game and show? It was a disaster but, if you are relying on people to come to the games because of the fireworks, you are already in trouble. Who really gives a damn about fireworks if you are a true soccer fan?
As a season tickholder, my mom got an email today about the July 25th game and it sounded like you could get a game ticket for free to see the game and the fireworks. Sounds like a ploy to boost attendance numbers to me.
I personally did not think Noonan played all that bad, but he is defiantely not on the same page as everyone else. The thing about the team in this game that really upset me is that it seemed like the Rapids were just waiting for balls to be played before making their runs. It makes guys like Cooke and Ballouchy look bad because they are holding the ball far too long.
Nick, I'm with you...I thought I saw Conor get a second yellow for dissent after time had expired. Anyone heard anything more on this?
Re Casey, the Rapids had not heard anything from the league as of yesteday afternoon so I think we can assume he is good to go Saturday.
True about the fireworks but come on... it was the 4th of July!! I brought the whole family (as I do every year)... hate to see the dissapointed kids who were expecting a good show.
Fingers are crossed for tomorrows match!
James, you can get tickets for the July 25th game as well as the fireworks diplay for FREE if you have the July 4 ticket stubs. That is a good deal. Well done Rapids FO.
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