Pre-Game: San Jose

by Brendan Wyatt 

The Rapids are looking at the final stretch of regular season games.  With staggering home and away matches for the remainder of the season, the burgundy boys look to remain unbeaten at home as they face San Jose tonight.  Tonight’s game is one of two that the Rapids will play against the Quakes at home. 

San Jose, like Colorado, is two games behind the majority of the league as far as games played.   Unlike Colorado though, the Quakes sit below the playoff line in 8^th place.  The Rapids are the only team above the red line who have two games in hand.   In order for the Rapids to reclaim the second spot in the west, they need a little help from their friends in Kansas City.  Sporting KC takes on LA tonight; if the burgundy boys take care of business at home and SKC keeps LA from grabbing any points, the Rapids will reclaim the second spot in the western conference standings with 49 points.  Dallas has 51 points and is up against a very offensive NYCFC team.  Should FCD start a losing streak, now would be a good time. 

 

The history between the Rapids and the Quakes is a long, dark and sad one if you’re a Rapids fan.  The Quakes have a 13 game unbeaten streak going against the Rapids. The last time the Rapids beat San Jose was in 2011.  The Quakes won seven of the 13, meaning the Rapids are 0-7-6 since the beginning of 2011 when facing San Jose. 

The last time these two teams faced off was the season opener in San Jose.  A lot has changed since then, yet the lineup tonight may be very similar to what we saw last week in Dallas and what we saw at the beginning of the year.  We know who is hurt for the Rapids. Despite the injury reports we know that Doyle, Burling, Jones, Serna and St. Ledger will not don kits tonight.  That opens the door for Dom Badji, Marlon Hairston and maybe even Marco Pappa to start. 

 

In our podcast, the Drunken Monk broke down our most productive players vs minutes played; despite not playing much Marco Pappa is the most productive player, when playing.  Why Coach Pablo feels Dillon Powers is more productive when the numbers say he isn’t, is beyond me.  As for Shkelzen Gashi, he has a slight issue with his calf; despite not being listed on the DL.  He will most likely be on the bench tonight yet don’t be surprised if he doesn’t dress.  

Wins do more than just placement in the standings, a win helps build confidence.  Wins help the atmosphere in the stadiums; wins help fill the bandwagons and wins keep momentum going.  A win tonight is a must and they need our help, the 12^th man.

Big day at the C38 tailgate, it’s the long awaited home brew contest.  That means on top of awesome craft beers we normally have, there will be samples of others made by fellow C38ers.  The Tailgate kicks off at 4, the game kicks off at 7, tickets are still available so visit the donation tent if you’re looking for tickets for your friends. 

 

Predicted starting XI: Tim Howard, Eric Miller, Jared Watts, Marc Burch.  Sam Cronin, Michael Azira, Marlon Hairston, Dillon Powers, Sebastian Le Toux; Dom Badji.