C38 Opinion Piece:Preseason roundup by Mark Harro

Preseason Roundup

Mark Harro

Well, the preseason is officially over and we are days away from the home opener on March 4^th against the New England Revolution. That’s right, MLS is almost back, and once again I am getting my hopes up, and maybe this year they won’t be crushed prematurely. But enough fawning over the regular seasons arrival, let’s look at how the Rapids did this preseason game by game.

Ventura County Fusion: After leavings Colorado, the Rapids took a detour and stopped in Los Angeles before joining other MLS teams in Tuscon, AZ. During their brief time in LA the Rapids played a two-game series with Premier Development League (PDL) side Ventura County Fusion. Unfortunately, these games were played behind closed doors, so us amateur analysts back home weren’t left much to go off. The first game ended in a 1-1 draw, with Ventura County player Diego Casillas opening the scoring in the 83^rd minute and Dominique Badji equalizing three minutes later.

 A 1-1 draw with a PDL side is less than ideal, but it was the first game of preseason, and in game two, the Rapids pounded Ventura County 6-1. Calvert, Badji, Hairston, Callahan, and Siaj all scored in that one. One thing to note is that all these guys are 24 years old or younger, and that’s not including Dillon Serna, homegrowns Kortne Ford and Ricardo Perez, new signing Bismark Adjei-Boateng (Nana), and draft pick Sam Hamilton. I sense a youth revolution afoot.

Sporting Kansas City: The Rapids arrived in Tuscon for the coveted Desert Diamond Cup and their first opponent was SKC. This was the first test for the Rapids against MLS competition, and they looked rusty out there. The Rapids first half lineup was mainly starters from last peppered with some of the new guys such as Ford, Hamilton, Nana, and Callahan. This group was not particularly exciting in the first half and it was our first look at Nana, who looked impressive on the ball. Ford did well working with Bobby Burling to contain an SKC side that could easily all start on opening day. The second half brought whole sale changes to both teams, and it did not take long for SKC to put one past Cody Mizell, a Rapids academy prospect spending preseason with the first team. For most the second half, it looked like the Rapids were destined to lose 1-0, but in the final minutes Video Assistant Referee proved useful and earned the Rapids a penalty for an uncalled hand ball. Powers buried and the game ended 1-1. I understand that these are experimental squads, however we still looked like our old selves; defensively sound for the most part, but uncreative in the final third.

New England Revolution: After the first 20 minutes I was positive the Rapids were in for a rout. It did not look good. New England were running rampant in the final third, and should have had more than that lone goal from Juan Agudelo. The turning point happened when Tony Cascio entered the game for Liam Callahan out of nowhere like a WWE match and turned the entire Rapids offense around. Towards the end of the first half Cascio created 2 goals from the right wing, with Calvert scoring one and Badji the other. In the second half, the Rapids looked much livelier on the attack. Before the team was subbed out around the 60^th minute, Calvert would go on to notch another goal, this time assisted by the tornado that had been happening for most of the game. The next round of players featured more of the regular attacking lineup, but they failed to make an impact on the game apart from a Doyle game that was ruled a foul in favor of New England. But they did well to hold off further goals from New England, and a 3-1 win is never a bad result.

New York City FC: This was the most 2016 Rapids game ever; a 1-0 win thanks to an individual effort from outside the box. It was even more 2016 Rapids in the fact that the first half starting lineup was a classic 2016 Rapids regular lineup. It shouldn’t be surprising that it was a 2016 Rapids performance. Both sides were light on chances, and the game seemed to be bogged down in the center of the pitch and I was sure it was going to be 0-0 at half time. But a poorly cleared header by NYCFC fell right to Sam Cronin just outside the box, and he volleyed it home. It would be the lone goal of the game, as the Rapids would once again opt for a wholesale change in the second half. Cascio featured but did not have the same impact, Ford looked good defensively but nearly had a disastrous back pass, and Nana looked sloppy in his passing. Overall, not a great showing from the new guys, but the old guard got it done.

Houston Dynamo: Just when I thought the Rapids could win this whole preseason tournament it blew up in their faces. The Rapids were…not good in this one. Houston looks to have a very impressive counter-attack this season, and it killed the Rapids. Let’s face it, Jared Watts and Axel Sjoberg are not going to win any foot races, and when the Rapids get caught out, they get caught out badly. They were caught flat footed several times by the Houston counter, but thankfully only conceded two. It could have been worse. I think the real issue was the Rapids inability to finish off just one of several chances. While none of the new guys appeared in this one, the old guard played like themselves. That being a complete inability to score goals. If this is the starting lineup that Pablo opts for then I don’t see where the goals are going to come from.

Now that the regular season is upon us, I have three takeaways from preseason to consider.

1.      Youth: The Rapids are getting younger, and I expect to see the regular young guys like Hairston and Badji to have big seasons. I expect Ford to get significant minutes as Bobby Burling has proven to somewhat injury prone. I also expect Nana to cement a spot in the midfield, even if it’s not at the start of the season. 

2.      Wing depth: Cascio had a great game, and then a mediocre game during the preseason, and I was hoping we would pick him up on the cheap. Sure, he wouldn’t have been an elite winger in the league, but he would have provided depth on the wing. Right now I consider our only true wingers to be Hairston and Serna. Badji can do the job in a pinch but I prefer him playing centrally, and Gashi isn’t a winger. Pablo won’t change my mind on that one. It is too bad the Gilbert Koomson deal fell through. We would look much better on the wings.

3.      Where’s the offense? I am still not convinced we have done enough in the attack to score more goals. Alan Gordon is great and all, but he is old and will be mainly coming into games off the bench. He may grab a few goals, but he isn’t the savior we need. Meanwhile, Ricardo Perez looks promising but is a rookie. I don’t know how often Pablo will utilize him this season, and I could see him being shipped off to Charlotte. Nana may be a catalyst, but I am hesitant to put all my hope on a box-to-box midfielder. My hope? We reassess in the summer and sign a 10 or winger.