What do the Rapids need to do tonight when they face off in
the third and final meeting with Sporting KC? Simple, they need to win. Of course it’s easier said than done, but
this is a must win game in a few ways. The
last home game was an opportunity lost for the Rapids, behind a sellout crowd
and the debut of Tim Howard; if the club was looking to hook a few thousand new
fans a win would have done that.
Tonight’s match is also a sellout, meaning once again the
Rapids have a chance at not only wooing in a few thousand bandwagon fans, but
calm the jitters in the supporters as the team hasn’t posted a win since June
18th. It’s been knuckle biting
soccer, behind choppy play and very, very few goals. The Rapids have been playing on the line for
the entire first half of the season.
Only once so far this season have the Rapids scored more than two goals. It was the April 23rd game against
the Sounders. That’s 18 games played,
the Rapids are 9-2-7, and only one of those 9 games had the Pids scored more
than or won by two. That is living on
the edge and may not be enough offense to get us through the playoffs.
A win (or tie) tonight will also extend the clubs record
unbeaten streak, to 14. A win will give
the Rapids a sweep of Sporting KC, which would also be a club record, first
ever sweep. A win tonight means 9 points
gained on SKC, and when you are fighting for the number one spot in the
conference, stealing 3 points from the other team can mean everything. The Rapids are 21-23-13 when facing SKC, having
won the last four meetings the burgundy boys have made it a bit of a rivalry.
Who will start for the Rapids? Tim Howard of course, as well as Kevin Doyle and
Shkelzen Gashi too. There are a few
spots that I remain uncertain about.
First and foremost the questionable start of Jermaine Jones. A last minute scratch last week with a calf
issue and having sat out most of training this week leaves me to think he won’t
start this evening, but ESPN reports he's 100%. Second; Eric Miller
picked up a red, a soft red if you ask me, but he has to sit, with us at the
tailgate. Not a bad punishment
really. So who fills in on the right? Is Marc Burch good to go? I think so.
For the first time all season, I observed everyone (minus
Dillon Serna) in training. This includes
Joe Greenspan, who had been sent to the Switchbacks on loan. Also, if my memory serves me right, Jared Watts
was training in the midfield, for the first time since the season started. Could the return of Joe Greenspan mean that
the Watts at CB era is coming to an end? That when I said they want him to be
the future #6 that we might start seeing it? At least I didn’t bet on that.
Bobby Burling and Sean St. Ledger were also in the thick of
things. Full training, Bobby was scoring
goals off his head and feet, while Sean was physical and breaking up plays,
could we see either of them return to the 18 man roster?
I’m going to go with Watts at CB, I don’t think Joe, Bobby
or Sean is quite there yet, but I wouldn’t mind being proven wrong. Dillon Powers could be the replacement for Jermaine Jones, again wouldn’t be hurt if I was wrong there either, but that does seem
like the most ideal pick based of what I saw at training this week.
The stadium is going to be packed once again. There may even be a sky blue corner rooting
on the other team. The atmosphere ought
to be great, and it’s up to us once again to be the 12th man. The tailgate will be big; after all they are
roasting a pig. Eric Miller will be
joining me and The Voice of C38 cast at 6pm, keeping the karma going, along with Jason Horton from the Rapids Special Olympics team at 5:30pm.
Predicted starting XI: Tim Howard; Mekeil Williams, Axel
Sjoberg, Jared Watts, Marc Burch. Sam Cronin, Michael Azira. Shkelzen Gashi, Jermaine Jones, Marco Pappa; Kevin Doyle.
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